NPORS Pay Welder Training (N241)

A self propelled welding rig used in pipeline construction. It is normally a tracked carrier with an engine driving the tracks and an onboard generator or welding power source, a deck carrying welding equipment, often a small hydraulic crane for the welding tent and accessories, and a cab the operator works from. It keeps the welding crew supplied with power, kit and shelter as the line progresses.

No, and that is worth being clear about. The NPORS N241 category covers operating the machine. Welding competence is proved by welder approval testing to the relevant welding standard, which is a separate qualification and nothing to do with the plant card.

Four days on the NPORS novice route, with three candidates to one instructor and one machine. An experienced operator sits a shorter test focused route with up to six candidates, and a refresher is shorter again. We confirm the length when we quote.

Operating the onboard equipment is part of running the machine, and we cover it on the machine you have. Where the crane is used to lift loads, lifting brings its own requirements under LOLER, including thorough examination and trained lifting personnel, and we will tell you what your operation needs rather than letting the plant ticket be assumed to cover it.

The NPORS N241 category on an NPORS card. 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.

No. A side boom carries and lowers the pipe into the trench on a boom hung off the side of a crawler. A pay welder carries welding power and equipment for the crew. They work on the same spread but they are separate machines and separate NPORS categories, the N242 and the N241.

Usually the experienced worker route, which is test focused rather than taught. We will confirm it at enquiry, and where the machines or the working standards were very different we will say so and suggest training rather than straight to test.

Yes, and it is the sensible option because the ground and the corridor are the hard part of the job. We need a machine available and a safe area to work. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your people and your machine can be released.

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.