NRSWA - The Re-Qualification Requirements Explained.

The UK has the third highest road safety record in Europe but what about those people that build and maintain our highways system? The New Roads and Street works Act (NRSWA) of 1981 was designed to ensure that all operatives and supervisors working on UK highways and roads were suitable qualified keeping them and other road users safe.

There are qualifications for either Supervisors or Operators who need to obtain a qualification for the first time, and now there is a requirement for those already having a qualification to re-certify.

So if you fall into this recertification category for NRSWA how do you go about this?

Firstly you must have a NRSWA card to be eligible for a re-qualification. If you do not have a card you must complete the full NRSWA course for either operatives or supervisors depending on your job role. Remember to hold a card you must complete the required number of units. For example, to hold an operatives, excavation, backfilling and reinstatement cold lay qualification you must have completed units the 001 Location and avoidance of underground apparatus, Unit 002 Signing, lighting and guarding, Unit 003 Excavation in the road/highway, Unit 004 Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials, Unit 005 Reinstatement of sub-base and road-base in non-bituminous materials and Unit 006 Reinstatement of cold-lay bituminous materials. Please see http://www.swqr.org.uk/mini/26951.html for more details.

If you have a Street Works Qualification Register (SWQR) card you can choose to either complete the full course again or to complete the re-qualification. Although the NRSWA gives you six months grace after your card has run out to complete either of these options, it is preferable to complete the re-qualification within the first four months of the grace period. This is to ensure that your re -qualification reaches you before your grace period runs out and you can continue working.

The re-qualification itself is broken down into tests for each unit, conducted in exam conditions. You will not be allowed access to mobile phone or computers during this time. Each unit exam is 30 minutes in duration and you will need to achieve at least 80% to pass. There are re-qualification exams for both operative level and supervisor level workers and many training providers offer revision packages along with the re-qualification courses, which means that you get to refresh your knowledge and increase your chances of hitting the pass mark.

Most training providers offer the opportunity to re sit 2 units if you do not manage to hit the passmark on your first try.

For some of the more complicated units such as the operatives 007 Reinstatement of hot-lay bituminous materials and 008 Reinstatement of concrete slabs and the supervisors 0015 - Monitoring reinstatement of concrete slabs a full half day per unit reassessment is needed.

As this is a new development in NRSWA, there are a growing number of providers in England who are offering the reassessments and many more who are gaining certification to conduct these at their venues. If you are having trouble locating a training provider in your area it is useful to consult an online search facility. They will be able to contact providers on your behalf to check if they are currently offering or are planning to offer the re-qualification in the future.