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NPORS Static Concrete Placing Boom Training (N721)
The placing boom that stays on the building: mounted on a plinth, a mast or the structure itself, fed through a riser by a static pump and climbed as the frame goes up. It puts concrete where a truck mounted pump cannot reach, and it does it over the heads of everybody on the deck. Run on request, on your own equipment.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N721 Static Concrete Placing Boom different
About this course
The NPORS N721 category covers the static concrete placing boom: a hydraulic placing boom mounted on a plinth, a climbing mast or the structure itself, fed by a separate static or trailer mounted pump through a pipeline and riser, rather than folded onto a truck. It is the standard method on multi storey frames, core and slab pours, basements and large decks, where a boom stays with the building and moves up as the frame does.
The operating skill is placing concrete accurately through a boom that is working above a live deck. Reach and the working envelope, slew limits and where the boom is allowed to travel, keeping the end hose under control, communicating with the placing gang who are directly under the equipment, and understanding that the pour rate is set by the pump and the pipeline rather than by the boom. Wind matters, because manufacturers set a maximum wind speed for boom operation and a boom mounted high on a frame catches far more of it than a truck mounted one at ground level.
The other half is the pipeline and the structure. Concrete is pumped up a long riser at pressure, so couplings, clamps and hose restraints are checked and treated seriously, and a blockage is cleared by the same disciplined procedure used on any pump: stop, reverse until the pressure is released, clear an exclusion zone, then open the line. Never pump harder to shift it. Installing, climbing and dismantling a placing boom is a planned lifting operation in its own right, carried out to the manufacturer's procedure under proper supervision, and the course makes clear where the operator's responsibility sits within that.
- The equipment: placing boom and sections, slew and mast or plinth mounting, hydraulics and power supply, pipeline and riser, end hose and controls
- Working envelope: reach, slew limits, where the boom may and may not travel, and working over an occupied deck
- Wind: the manufacturer's maximum wind speed for boom operation, and why height on a frame makes it a live issue rather than a note in the handbook
- Pipeline and pressure: couplings, clamps and hose restraints, the riser, and the correct blockage procedure with an exclusion zone
- Working with the placing crew: communication and signals, control of the end hose, and keeping people clear of the boom and the discharge
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, cleaning and washing out, the operator's part in a planned installation or climb, and duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, PUWER 1998 and CDM 2015
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N721 Static Concrete Placing Boom 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 work the boom to a plan and a set of signals rather than to shouted instructions across a deck
- A blockage and clear down procedure that the whole crew follow the same way
Who should attend?
Concrete frame and structures contractors, concrete pumping specialists, high rise and basement contractors, formwork and falsework companies running their own placing equipment, and pump operators moving across from truck mounted machines. The placing gang on the deck work inside the same operation and benefit from understanding it even where they do not operate the boom. If the equipment is a truck mounted mobile pump with its own folding boom, that is the N211 Concrete Pump category.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, fit enough to work at height on a frame and to handle pipeline and hose, comfortable working at height, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, though we can arrange an interpreter or a reader on request. Industry good practice for concrete pumping expects operators to be medically fit and able to judge distance accurately, which matters a great deal when a boom is being worked over a deck with people on it. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass at Operatives level taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Tell us at enquiry what placing equipment you run and how it is mounted.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the equipment, the working envelope, pressure and the law, then the rest of the time on the boom placing concrete and clearing down, with theory and practical testing at the end.
The boom, the pipeline and the deck
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, PUWER 1998 and CDM 2015 as they apply to concrete placing operations
- The manufacturer's handbook, reach, working envelope and slew limits, and the equipment's stated operating conditions
- Major components: boom sections, slew mechanism, mast or plinth mounting, hydraulics, pipeline, riser, end hose and controls
- Manufacturer wind speed limits for boom operation and the effect of working high on a frame
- Pipeline pressure, couplings, clamps and hose restraints, and the correct blockage procedure
- Working over a live deck: exclusion under the boom, communication and signals with the placing crew, and control of the end hose
- Installation, climbing and dismantling as a planned operation, the operator's part in it and where responsibility sits
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, cleaning and washing out, spillage and environmental controls
On the placing boom
- Pre use checks of the boom, mounting, hydraulics, pipeline, couplings, hose and restraints, and reporting a defect
- Confirming the working envelope and any slew restrictions before starting a pour
- Checking conditions including wind against the manufacturer's stated limits
- Unfolding and operating the boom smoothly within its envelope and away from structures and people
- Placing concrete to the pour with the end hose under control, working to agreed signals with the placing crew
- Dealing with a blockage by the correct procedure, with an exclusion zone in place
- Cleaning and washing out in a designated position, parking the boom and leaving the equipment safe
Method of assessment
How the N721 static concrete placing boom test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. Training and assessment run together, and the practical is carried out on the placing equipment your operators actually work.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators, where, what placing equipment you run and how it is mounted. Three sit the novice course with one instructor and one machine, six can sit the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We work out who is a genuine 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, check any medical or working at height requirement your operation applies, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the equipment, the envelope, pressure and the duties, then the rest of the time on the boom. Where we are on your site we work to your set up, your pour arrangements and your own signals with the placing crew.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test, open questions and multiple choice, covering legislation, equipment components, working envelope and slew limits, wind, pipeline pressure and blockage procedure, and working over a live deck.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, confirm the envelope and conditions, operate the boom under control, place to a pour with the end hose managed and clear down, 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
Installing and climbing is a separate operation
The card covers operating the placing boom. Installing it, climbing it as the frame rises and dismantling it are a different matter: industry good practice treats installation as a hazardous operation requiring risk assessment, a method statement, lifting equipment and accessories, and rigid adherence to the manufacturer's procedure under trained supervision. That is a planned lifting operation with its own competent people, and an operator card is not a substitute for it. The course is clear about where the line falls so that nobody assumes otherwise.
The other point worth planning is the interface with the crane and the deck. A placing boom, a tower crane and a frame crew are all working the same airspace, and the pour is usually the busiest thing happening that day. Signals, exclusion zones under the boom and an agreed sequence between the pour and the lifting operation are worth setting out before the concrete arrives rather than being negotiated over the noise of a pump.
- N211 Concrete Pump for the truck mounted machines in the same fleet
- N133 Plant and Machinery Marshal for keeping a deck clear beneath a working boom
- N723 Harness and Fall Arrest where operators work at height on a frame mounted boom
- 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.
N721 Static Concrete Placing Boom FAQs
A hydraulic placing boom that stays on the building rather than folding onto a truck. It is mounted on a plinth, a climbing mast or the structure itself, and fed by a separate static or trailer mounted pump through a pipeline and riser. It places concrete on multi storey frames, cores, slabs and basements where a mobile pump cannot reach.
The equipment. N211 is the mobile concrete pump: a truck with a folding boom, set up on stabilisers at ground level. N721 is the separate placing boom fixed to the structure or a plinth and fed through a riser by a static pump. They are separate NPORS categories, and an operator moving from one to the other needs the category for the equipment they are actually on.
NPORS publish a three day novice duration, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. Most candidates already have concrete pumping experience, so the shorter experienced worker test route is common and NPORS allow six in a session on it. A refresher is around a day. We confirm the length when we quote.
No, and that is an important distinction. Installing, climbing and dismantling a placing boom is a planned operation in its own right, requiring a risk assessment and method statement, lifting equipment and accessories, the manufacturer's procedure and trained supervision. The operator card covers working the boom. We are explicit about that on the course so that nobody assumes the ticket stretches further than it does.
The same disciplined way as on any pump, and it matters more on a static system because the pipeline runs up the building. Stop pumping, reverse until the pressure is released, clear an exclusion zone, then locate and open the line systematically. Increasing the pressure to force a blockage through is what causes a coupling to let go.
It can, and the limit is not a judgement call. Manufacturers set a maximum wind speed for boom operation, and a boom mounted high on a frame is exposed to far more wind than a truck mounted machine standing at ground level. The course covers checking actual conditions against the stated limit rather than estimating.
The NPORS N721 category. Without a relevant NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card, valid two years. With the relevant NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card, valid five years. 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 for this category it is the better option, because the equipment is fixed to a building and the practical needs to reflect the actual set up, the pour arrangement and the signals your crew use. There are no scheduled dates: we run it around the pour programme when you can release people.
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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