NPORS Compact Crane Training (N140)

For NPORS purposes yes: N140 Compact Crane is the category that covers compact, mini and spider cranes. The tracked machines with four deployable legs that fold down to fit through a doorway all sit here.

Five days for a novice, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. Operators already running these cranes usually take the test focused route of a day, with four candidates allowed, and the refresher is also a day. We agree the route when you tell us what people actually do.

Because the machine's capacity depends on how far the outrigger legs are spread and in which configuration they are set. A crane set with one leg short of full spread is on a different chart from the same crane set fully out, and reading the wrong chart is one of the main ways these machines overturn.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons people buy or hire them. It also means the floor has to be considered as carefully as the chart: outrigger foot pressure through a small foot is high, so spreader plates, floor loading capacity and the structural position under the legs all matter. That is covered on the course.

LOLER regulation 8 applies to every lifting operation regardless of the size of the crane, so yes, it must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. For glass and stone work that usually means an Appointed Person writing the plan. The machine being small changes nothing about the duty.

The NPORS N140 category. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant plant operations 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. We can run it on your hired machine while you have it, or at a venue near you on a similar crane. Tell us the make and model, because the leg configurations and the charts differ between manufacturers and we want operators tested on something that matches what they will use.

Yes, and it is usually better, because the ground, the doorways and the floors you actually work become part of the training. There are no scheduled dates: we run it 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.