CSCS Labourer cards: the two year expiry wave from February 2027

CSCS announced on 30 October 2024 that from 1 February 2025 the first Labourer card would be valid for two years instead of five. It linked the change to the Building Safety Act, under which anyone working in construction must be competent for their role, and said the card had become the default easy option for site access: around 500,000 Labourer cards are in circulation against CITB's forecast of about 140,000 labourers needed each year by 2028.

A two year card issued on 1 February 2025 expires on or around 1 February 2027, and cards issued since then follow month by month. So from February 2027 there is a steady wave of Labourer cards expiring for the first time, rather than one date. CSCS's announcement does not say whether cards issued before 1 February 2025 are affected, so go by the expiry date printed on those cards.

CSCS says holders who stay in a labouring role can renew for five years by providing evidence that they are employed in a labouring role. The CITB health, safety and environment (HS&E) test taken for the first card has had its validity extended to three years, so that it can be used for the renewal. For new entrants, CSCS points to red cards that support recognised training routes, such as apprenticeships and NVQs.

The practical points:

• The card fee: £36 for a CSCS card when a training provider or employer applies (CSCS)
• The HS&E test: £23.50 from 1 April 2026 (CITB fees list), if a new test is needed
• Funding: from August 2026 the CSCS card and HS&E test can be funded for eligible Adult Skills Fund learners in England
• The application: a provider applying for several people does it online, with each person's own email address and a name that matches their HS&E test exactly (CSCS guide for training providers)

Check CSCS's current renewal rules before booking anyone, as the announcement is the only renewal detail we have relied on here.

Find the cards first. An employer with labourers on site needs each card's expiry date and whether the holder's HS&E test will still be in date. A training provider who booked HS&E tests or card applications in 2025 already holds most of that information, and can tell its customers who is due and when.

In our live training provider demo at training-demo.varsuite.co.uk, card applications sit in the submissions queue with the other uploads a provider owes, and the renewals engine reminds the delegate and their employer 90, 60 and 30 days before a certificate expires. An employer sees all their staff on an expiry heatmap in their own portal and can rebook everyone due in the next 90 days in one go. The rest of the system is on our training provider software page, and other validity periods are in our answer on how long construction training certificates last.

Checked on 22 October 2026:

• CSCS, Validity of first CSCS Labourer card reduced to two years, 30 October 2024: the change, the reasons, renewal evidence and the HS&E test's three year validity
• CSCS, Employers, training providers and third parties and the guide for training providers and third parties, June 2023: the card fee and the application
• CSCS, Government to fund CSCS card costs for eligible learners from August 2026
• CITB, Training Provider Network fees list, April 2026: the HS&E test fee