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NPORS Mast Climber Training (N119)
A mast climbing work platform carries a gang, their tools and a day's materials up the side of a building, and the operator is responsible for all of it. Three days for a novice covers the machine, the loading limits, the ties into the structure and what to do when the platform stops halfway up. Run on request, on the machine already on your site.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N119 Mast Climber different
About this course
The NPORS N119 Mast Climber category covers mast climbing work platforms: powered platforms that run up and down one or two masts tied back into the building, used for cladding, brickwork, rendering, window installation and facade refurbishment. They are not scaffolding and they are not MEWPs. The platform stays at working height for as long as the gang needs it, carries a serious payload and travels only vertically.
Three days covers the machine: the mast sections and the ties into the structure, the drive and the climbing mechanism, the base and its foundations, the deck and its extensions, the guardrails, the overload sensing and the limit switches. Then the operating envelope, which is where the real learning is: the safe working load, the distribution of that load along the deck, the number of people permitted, the effect of extensions, and wind limits and out of service conditions.
The rest is the daily routine and the things that go wrong. Pre use checks and the inspection regime, checking that ties and fixings are as they should be, loading and unloading materials at ground and at height, controlling the gap between platform and building, keeping the area below clear of dropped objects, and the emergency descent and rescue arrangement for a platform that stops with people on it. Erection, alteration and dismantling are specialist operations carried out by trained erection crews and are covered as awareness, not as a qualification.
- The machine: mast sections, ties into the structure, base and foundations, drive and climbing mechanism, deck and extensions, guardrails and gates
- Safe working load and, just as importantly, how that load must be distributed along the deck and what extensions change
- The number of people permitted, tool and material loading, and the checks before the platform is raised
- Pre use checks and the inspection regime, including confirming ties and fixings are in place and undamaged
- Wind limits, out of service conditions, and what to do when weather closes in with the platform at height
- Working at the face: the gap to the building, edge protection, dropped objects, the exclusion zone below, and emergency descent and rescue
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N119 Mast Climber category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where you hold the relevant NVQ, carrying the CSCS logo while your CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date
- Operators who understand loading and distribution rather than just which button raises the deck
- A gang that knows how it gets down if the platform stops, which is the question nobody asks until it happens
Who should attend?
Bricklayers, cladding and curtain walling installers, renderers, window and facade contractors, painters and refurbishment crews working from mast climbers, along with the supervisors who load and run them. It suits a whole gang taken together, because everybody on the deck contributes to the loading whether or not they press the buttons. It is not the category for a MEWP boom or scissor lift, and it does not qualify anybody to erect, alter or dismantle a mast climber.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, fit enough to work at height and comfortable doing so for a full shift, with no medical condition that would make being on a platform at height unsafe, and able to follow spoken and written English for the theory test, though interpreters can be arranged on request. There is no prior card requirement. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Tell us at enquiry what make and configuration of platform is on your site, because the controls and the loading rules differ between manufacturers.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the machine, the law and the loading, then the rest of the time on the platform itself operating through its working height, with testing at the end.
The machine, the law and the loading
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Work at Height Regulations 2005, PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998 as they apply to mast climbers
- Operator responsibilities and the limits of them, and the role of the erection crew and the competent person
- Machine components: mast, ties, base and foundations, drive and climbing mechanism, deck, extensions and guardrails
- Safety devices: overload sensing, limit switches, emergency stop and emergency descent
- Safe working load and load distribution along the deck, permitted numbers of people, and the effect of extensions
- Pre use checks, the inspection regime and reporting defects
- Wind limits, out of service conditions and the effect of sheeting or netting on the platform
- Emergency and rescue arrangements, dropped objects and the exclusion zone below
Operating the platform
- Pre use checks of the platform, the controls, the guardrails, the gates and the visible ties
- Safe access and egress at ground level and at height
- Loading materials and tools within the safe working load and correctly distributed
- Raising and lowering the platform through its working height under control
- Working at the face, managing the gap to the building and keeping the deck in order
- Emergency descent, lowering the platform and securing it at the end of the shift
Method of assessment
How the N119 mast climber test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. Training and assessment run together, with the practical covering pre use checks, loading, operating through the working height and shutting down.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many people, where, and what platform is on site. Three sit the novice course with one instructor and one machine; six are allowed on the experienced worker test, which suits a whole gang. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We decide who is a novice, who is an experienced worker and who is due a refresher, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date for the CSCS logo version of the card, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the machine, the law and the loading, then the rest of the time on the platform, ideally the one already erected on your site.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, machine components and safety devices, safe working load and distribution, wind limits and emergency arrangements.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, load the platform correctly, raise and lower it through its working height, work at the face and secure it, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test it carries the CSCS logo, as a Red Trained Operator card or a Blue Competent Operator card if you hold the relevant NVQ.
After the course
The gang on the deck, and the rest of the access
Everybody on the platform loads it, so everybody on the platform needs to understand the loading. Training only the person who presses the buttons leaves a gang free to stack a pallet of blocks at one end of the deck. NPORS allow six candidates on the experienced worker test for this category, which is deliberately generous and makes putting a whole gang through practical rather than aspirational.
Most sites using a mast climber also use other access. The hoist that gets materials to the floors, the mobile tower for the small jobs, the MEWPs for the awkward corners and the harnesses for the edges are all separate categories, and holding a mast climber card covers none of them. If you want a picture of what your crews actually need, tell us what access equipment is on the job and we will tell you which categories match and which you already hold.
- N111 Hoist for the goods and passenger hoist serving the same building
- N108 MEWP Boom and N109 MEWP Scissor for the machines that are not mast climbers
- N404 Safe Working at Height as a half day grounding for the wider gang
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N119 Mast Climber FAQs
A powered platform that travels vertically up one or two masts tied back into the building, used for cladding, brickwork, rendering and facade work. It is not scaffolding and it is not a MEWP. It carries a gang, their tools and a working quantity of materials, and it stays at height for as long as the work needs.
Three days for a novice, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. Operators already using mast climbers usually take the shorter test focused route, and NPORS allow six candidates on that one. The refresher is shorter again and we confirm the length when we quote.
No. Erection, alteration and dismantling are specialist operations carried out by trained erection crews and are outside this category. The course covers them as awareness so an operator understands the machine they are working, and so they know to check that ties and fixings are as they should be before they go up.
No. MEWP boom and scissor categories are separate cards for separate machines. A mast climber travels vertically on a tied mast and carries a very different payload, and the card has to match the machine.
That depends on the machine, the configuration and the manufacturer's data, and it is one of the things the course teaches you to find rather than guess. The number of people, the safe working load and how that load has to be distributed along the deck are all set for the specific platform, and extensions change them.
Every mast climber has an emergency descent arrangement, and knowing how to use the one on your machine is part of the course. So is the site's rescue plan, because getting people off a stalled platform at height is a planned operation rather than something to work out on the day.
The NPORS N119 category. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card. Either carries the CSCS logo only while you hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years.
Yes, and we would encourage it. Everyone who stands on the deck contributes to the loading, so everyone should understand it. Three at a time on the novice route and six on the experienced worker test, run on your site when your work allows.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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