Level 2 NVQ Plant Operations Diploma

It is decided by the machines, not by the name. This Diploma is heavy earthmoving only: draglines, 180 and 360 degree excavators, tracked loading shovels, motorised scrapers, trenchers, suction and vacuum excavators, dozers, graders, truck mounted boom concrete pumps, soil stabilisers and concrete and asphalt pavers. Everything else is on the Level 2 Certificate: lift trucks, telehandlers, MEWPs, dumpers, dump trucks, rollers, loading shovels, skid steers, cranes, hoists, lorry loaders, concrete pumps, bowsers, tractors, vehicle marshalling and processing plant. The initial assessment on this page works out which your record needs.

No. There is no forklift unit, no telescopic handler unit and no MEWP unit anywhere in this Diploma, and no dumper, roller, crane or hoist either. Those are all on the Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Plant Operations, which is the same level and leads to the same card. If a telehandler or a MEWP category is on your NPORS record, this Diploma will not card you for it.

The NPORS Blue Competent Operator card, valid five years. It comes from NPORS rather than from CSCS direct, though it carries the CSCS logo and is accepted on site like any other card. You need the qualification with the unit credits applicable to the categories of plant, plus a pass in the NPORS or CITB health, safety and environment touch screen test within the two years before you apply. NPORS issue a CPD record and operator logbook with it.

The NPORS Red Trained Operator card is valid two years and can be extended once by twelve months if you have not yet achieved the qualification. NPORS require you to register for and achieve the qualification with the unit credits applicable to the categories of plant stated on that card. If the extension runs out without it, you cannot have another Red card. You would have to achieve the qualification first, be skills tested by an NPORS accredited training provider on the relevant machine types, and then apply for the Blue Competent Operator card. Starting before the extension rather than during it is the whole point.

There are five: extracting plant, excavating plant, constructing and forming plant, transporting loads plant, and laying and distributing plant. Extracting and excavating overlap heavily, because a 360 excavator, a dragline and a trencher each have a separate unit for extracting and for excavating. You take the pathway and the units that match what you actually do with the machine, and the initial assessment on this page works out which.

45 credits is the published minimum for the qualification: the two mandatory units at 5 credits plus the smallest machine unit, the soil stabiliser, at 40. Every other unit is bigger, up to 85 credits for dozers, so most operators finish well above the minimum. It does not mean you do less work, and it does not change the card.

No. There is no classroom and no exam. Everything is assessed on the machines you already operate, through records from your own jobs, an observation of you operating and a professional discussion with your assessor. The evidence has to be generated in the workplace, so it cannot be done in a training centre.

As long as you take. There is no fixed duration, no cohort and no term dates, and the qualification is led by you. An operator in the seat all week with tidy paperwork can be quick. Some units need a particular operation to come up, a batter, a grade, a deep dig or a paving run, so your assessor plans those around what is on next.

Records you already produce or sign: pre use and daily check sheets, defect reports, dig sheets and day sheets, setting out drawings and level or grade information, permits to dig and service drawings, quick hitch and attachment checks, RAMS briefings, witness testimony from the site manager, and photographs and video of you operating. Your assessor maps each one to a unit and tells you what is missing.

Within one pathway, yes, and it is often sensible, because each machine type is its own unit with its own credits and NPORS issue the card against the categories you can evidence. If some of your machines sit on the Level 2 Certificate instead, it is two registrations rather than one. Tell us the full list of categories on your record when you enquire and we will set it out properly.

Any week. There is no intake and no waiting list. Click through the initial assessment and send it to us, and we will confirm your pathway, your units and what happens next.

Yes, employers can be invoiced and can put a whole yard of operators through as one booking. A CITB grant may be available to CITB registered employers. Tell us who is paying when you enquire and we will set it out properly before anyone commits.