How to do it
- Go to the CSCS card checker at cscs.uk.com/cardchecker. — The checker is free to use and requires no registration or login. It is available on desktop and mobile browsers.
- Enter the card number from the front of the worker's CSCS card. — The card number is printed on the front of the card. Enter it exactly as shown, without spaces.
- Enter the worker's date of birth. — The checker requires the date of birth to match against the card record, preventing checks on cards the holder has not consented to being checked.
- Review the result. — The checker will confirm whether the card is valid, the card type (e.g. Green Labourer, Blue Skilled Worker), the occupation it covers, and the expiry date. An invalid or expired card will show as such.
- Record the outcome and the date of the check. — Keep a note of when you checked the card and what the result showed. If your site is ever audited, a dated record of your checks demonstrates that you verified worker credentials before deploying them.
Why check the CSCS register rather than just the photocard?
The photocard is a snapshot from the day it was issued. Since then, the card may have expired, been suspended, or been revoked — and the photocard will look the same regardless. The CSCS register at cscs.uk.com reflects the current status of every card on the scheme, updated in real time.
Checking the register takes the same amount of time as looking at the photocard but gives you live data rather than a historical document. For employers who accept new workers onto site, this distinction matters: a card that looks valid is not the same as a card that is currently valid on the CSCS system.
There is also a practical audit point here. If you rely solely on the photocard and a worker later turns out to have been working with an expired or revoked card, you have no evidence that you checked the card's status at all. A dated record of a register check is far stronger evidence of due diligence than a note saying you saw the physical card.
What information does the CSCS card checker show?
The checker returns the card holder's name, card type, occupation, and expiry date. It also confirms whether the card is currently valid. If the card has expired, been suspended, or is not found on the system, the checker will indicate this clearly.
Card type is worth examining alongside validity. The occupation printed on the card should match the work the person is being deployed to do. A worker holding a Green Labourer card is qualified for labouring work, not necessarily for the specific skilled trade role you need them to fill. If the card type does not match the role, that is a separate compliance issue from whether the card itself is currently valid.
For employers with multiple workers joining a site at the same time, running card checks in advance — rather than on the first day — means any issues can be resolved before they affect site access. A worker without a valid card on their first morning is a slow start to the day for everyone.
When should employers check CSCS cards?
Check every worker's card before their first day on a site that requires CSCS cards. For ongoing projects, build in a periodic review — at the start of each project phase, or at least every 6 months for workers who have been on site continuously. Cards that were valid when a worker joined can expire during a long project.
For workers approaching their card's expiry date, checking the register shortly before and after renewal is also useful. Once the new card is issued, the checker will reflect the updated expiry date. You can confirm the renewal has completed without waiting for the worker to hand you the new photocard.
Keep a dated record of each check and its result. This builds an audit trail that demonstrates your site compliance process to principal contractors, site managers, or health and safety inspectors who might ask how you assure yourself that workers' credentials are current.
How do employers track cards across a large workforce?
Checking cards one at a time works for small teams where the employer knows each worker personally and has a clear view of when cards are due. For larger crews working across multiple sites, the challenge is knowing which cards are approaching expiry so you can check the right ones at the right time — before expiry, not after.
Without a tracking system, cards can slip past their expiry date without anyone noticing until a gate refusal occurs. The worker arrives on site, the card check fails, and the resulting disruption — sending the worker home, finding cover, communicating with site management — costs far more time than checking 90 days in advance would have.
StaffClock records each worker's CSCS card expiry date and alerts you automatically as expiry approaches. When a renewal is confirmed, the new date goes into the system and the alert cycle resets. Each card check can be logged with a date and result, building an audit record for the whole workforce without managing it manually across a series of spreadsheet tabs.