Course overview
Norwich construction has a shape of its own. The city centre keeps a steady flow of commercial refits, student accommodation and residential conversion work threading between medieval streets and conservation areas, while the long-planned regeneration of the East Norwich riverside sites promises some of the largest brownfield schemes East Anglia has seen in years. Push out beyond the outer ring road and the picture changes again: major housing allocations around Wymondham, Rackheath and Long Stratton, ongoing improvement work on the A47 and A11 corridors, laboratory and office schemes at Norwich Research Park, and the energy-sector construction that keeps contractors busy along the coast at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Every one of those projects needs a site manager who can prove, on paper, that they are competent to run it safely.
That proof is the CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme, better known as the SMSTS. It is the five-day qualification that principal contractors, developers and public-sector clients across Norwich and the wider region routinely set as a minimum requirement for anyone managing a construction site. If you are the person responsible for the site as a whole, the person the HSE inspector asks for, the person whose name sits on the F10 paperwork and the construction phase plan, the SMSTS is the course written for you.
Skills Training Group delivers the SMSTS as a live online course via Zoom video link, priced at £430, running over five consecutive midweek days. For managers based in Norwich and across Norfolk, that matters more than it might in other parts of the country. East Anglia has never been blessed with training venues on every corner, and a five-day classroom course has traditionally meant a week of long drives down the A11 or an overnight stay somewhere else entirely. Training live online removes all of that. You join a real class, led in real time by a CITB-approved trainer, from your home, your office or the site cabin, and you finish the week with exactly the same CITB certificate as any classroom delegate in the country.
Who the SMSTS course is for
The SMSTS sits at the top of the CITB Site Safety Plus ladder. It is aimed squarely at the people who plan, organise, monitor and control construction work, rather than those who supervise a single gang or trade. Around Norwich that typically means:
- Site managers and agents running projects in the city or across Norfolk, from urban infill schemes to large housing developments
- Project managers who carry overall responsibility for programme, budget and safety on site
- Experienced site supervisors preparing to step up into a site management role
- Business owners and directors of Norwich-based building firms who oversee their own sites and need to demonstrate management-level safety competence
- Client-side and consultant staff who need a management-level understanding of how construction safety law works in practice
If your role is to supervise a section of the works under someone else’s overall control, the two-day SSSTS is usually the better fit, and we cover the difference between the two courses in the FAQ section further down this page. But if you are the person contractors, clients and inspectors hold accountable for the whole site, the SMSTS is the qualification the industry expects you to hold.
You do not need a formal qualification to book. Delegates should have a good standard of spoken and written English, because the course and the exam are delivered in English, and ideally some experience of working on construction sites so the discussions and scenarios connect to something real. Many delegates book the course at exactly the moment they are promoted, so the certificate and the new responsibility arrive together.
What you’ll learn on the course
Over the five days your CITB-approved trainer works through everything a site manager is legally and practically expected to know. The full module list is set out separately on this page, so rather than repeat it line by line, here is the shape of the week.
The course starts with the legal framework: the Health and Safety at Work Act, the CDM Regulations and the specific duties they place on the person managing a site. From there it moves into the practical core of the job, developing and managing risk assessments and method statements, planning work so that hazards are controlled before anyone picks up a tool, and building the kind of site culture where safe behaviour is normal rather than negotiable.
The later days deal with the high-risk activities that generate the industry’s most serious incidents: working at height, scaffolding, excavations and underground services, temporary works, demolition, confined spaces and site electrical safety. Occupational health and worker wellbeing run through the whole course, reflecting how much weight clients and the HSE now place on dust, noise, vibration and mental health alongside the traditional physical hazards.
None of it is taught as abstract theory. The sessions are built around discussion, group exercises and realistic scenarios, and because the class is live you can put your own questions to the trainer as they occur to you. Delegates managing a restricted city-centre site in Norwich face different daily problems from those running a greenfield housing scheme outside Wymondham or a plant-heavy infrastructure job on the A47, and a good trainer draws those differences out and works through them with the group.
How the course runs: five days, live online
The SMSTS runs over five consecutive midweek days, Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 5:00pm. Full attendance on all five days is a CITB requirement, so it pays to choose a week when you can genuinely step back from the day-to-day running of your site.
Delivery is live online via Zoom. This is not a recorded video package or a click-through e-learning module. You join a scheduled, tutor-led class in real time, alongside other construction managers from around the UK. You see and hear the trainer throughout, you take part in the group discussions and exercises, you complete the daily knowledge checks and you sit the end-of-course exam on screen. The content, the standard and the certificate are identical to a classroom SMSTS; the only difference is that you attend through your webcam rather than a car park.
To take part you need a reliable internet connection and a suitable device, ideally a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam and microphone. Both are built into virtually every modern machine, and we send clear joining instructions before your course starts. If you have ever sat in on a Zoom or Teams call, you already have every technical skill the week requires, and our team is on hand to help with any setup questions before day one.
Assessment and the SMSTS exam
The week finishes with a formal CITB examination. The paper is a mix of multiple-choice questions, multi-response questions and short written answers, it lasts approximately 30 minutes, and the pass mark is 81%.
That pass mark looks demanding on paper, but the exam tests the material the trainer has spent five full days working through with you, and the daily knowledge checks mean nothing in the paper should come as a surprise. Skills Training Group delegates achieve a 98.7% pass rate on the SMSTS, which reflects how much of the learning happens live, with a trainer checking understanding as the week goes on rather than leaving it all to the final morning.
If you want to gauge where you stand before the course, or steady your nerves in the run-up to the exam, we publish a free SMSTS mock test you can take online at any time. It is a straightforward way to get familiar with the question styles before the real paper is in front of you.
Why train online from Norwich
We are upfront about this: there is no physical SMSTS venue in Norwich, and we would rather explain why that is a genuine advantage than pretend otherwise.
Norwich sits a long way from the UK’s traditional training hubs. Before live online delivery existed, a Norfolk-based site manager wanting an SMSTS faced a week of early starts down the A11 towards Cambridge, a battle along the A47, or a hotel bill on top of the course fee. For a five-day course, that is a serious cost in time, money and disruption, and it often meant managers put the qualification off until a contract forced the issue.
Training by live video link removes every part of that problem:
- No travel and no parking. You log in from home, the office or the site cabin anywhere in Norwich or Norfolk. The hours you would have lost to the road go back into your week.
- No accommodation costs. The price is £430 and that is the end of it. There is no hotel, no fuel and no evening meal claims sitting on top.
- The same certificate. CITB makes no distinction between online and classroom delivery. The certificate you earn from your kitchen table in Norwich is exactly the certificate a delegate earns in a training room in Manchester or London.
- A wider room. You train alongside site managers from across the UK rather than whoever happened to book the same local venue. The discussions benefit from that mix, with delegates comparing how different contractors, regions and project types handle the same problems.
- Easier for employers. A Norwich firm putting two or three managers through the SMSTS can release them without organising travel, cover and expenses for a week away.
For managers spread across the wider catchment, in Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, King’s Lynn, Thetford, Dereham, Diss, North Walsham, Attleborough and the villages between, the case is even stronger. Everyone attends the same high-quality course on the same dates, and nobody spends the week working out where to park.
Certification and five-year validity
Pass the course and you receive the official CITB SMSTS certificate, the qualification recognised across the UK construction industry as the standard evidence of site management safety competence. Principal contractors, developers, local authorities and public-sector clients in Norwich and throughout the country routinely ask to see it before letting a manager take charge of their site, and it is a fixture on pre-qualification questionnaires and tender submissions.
The certificate is valid for five years. Before it expires you keep it current by completing the two-day SMSTS refresher course rather than repeating the full five days. It is worth putting the renewal date in your diary the day the certificate arrives: let it lapse and CITB requires the full course again, which is an expensive way to lose a fortnight’s notice.
CITB grant funding
The SMSTS is a grant-eligible course, which means employers registered with the CITB Levy may be able to claim a grant towards the cost of putting a delegate through it. For a Norwich contractor training one or more managers, that can take a meaningful bite out of the £430 fee.
The grant is claimed by the employer and paid by CITB after successful completion. If you are unsure whether your business is eligible, or how the claim process works, our team can point you in the right direction when you book.
How to book your SMSTS course from Norwich
Booking takes a few minutes. You can view upcoming SMSTS dates and book online, choosing whichever week suits your workload, or call our team free on 0808 164 2780 to book by phone, ask about group bookings or talk through CITB grant funding.
Because the course is delivered live online, Norwich delegates are never waiting for a local venue to fill up. Courses run regularly throughout the year, so if a new contract, a client requirement or an expiring certificate has put the SMSTS on your urgent list, there is normally a start date within a few weeks. You can also read more about the course itself on our main CITB SMSTS course page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the online SMSTS recognised on construction sites in Norwich?
Yes, fully. The SMSTS is a CITB Site Safety Plus qualification and CITB makes no distinction between live online and classroom delivery. The certificate you earn is the standard SMSTS certificate recognised across the UK construction industry, and it carries exactly the same weight with principal contractors, developers and clients on Norwich sites as it does anywhere else in the country.
Do I have to travel anywhere in Norwich to attend?
No. The course is delivered entirely live online via Zoom, so there is no venue, no commute and no parking to think about. You attend all five days from any location with a reliable internet connection, whether that is your home in Norwich, your office or a quiet room in the site cabin. We send full joining instructions before the course begins.
Will Norwich and Norfolk employers accept an online SMSTS certificate?
Yes. Contractors and clients ask whether you hold a valid CITB SMSTS certificate, not where you sat the course, and online delivery has been a standard, CITB-recognised route for years. Delegates from Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn and across East Anglia use this course to satisfy the same pre-start and tender requirements as classroom-trained managers, because the qualification is identical.
How long is the SMSTS course and what does it cost?
The SMSTS runs over five consecutive midweek days, Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 5:00pm, and full attendance on all five days is required. The live online course costs £430, which covers your tutor-led training and the end-of-course examination. Eligible CITB Levy-registered employers may also be able to claim a grant towards the cost.
What is the SMSTS exam like?
The exam sits at the end of the fifth day and lasts approximately 30 minutes. It combines multiple-choice questions, multi-response questions and short written answers, with a pass mark of 81%. It only covers material taught during the week, and our delegates achieve a 98.7% pass rate. If you would like to see the question styles in advance, try our free SMSTS mock test online.
What is the difference between the SMSTS and the SSSTS?
The SMSTS is the five-day course for site managers, agents and project managers who plan, organise and control an entire site. The SSSTS is the two-day course for supervisors, foremen and team leaders who oversee a section of the works under someone else’s overall management. If you are responsible for the whole site, book the SMSTS; if you supervise a gang or a trade, the SSSTS is usually the right starting point.
How long does the certificate last, and how do I renew it?
The CITB SMSTS certificate is valid for five years. To keep it current you complete the two-day SMSTS refresher course before the expiry date, rather than sitting the full five days again. If the certificate is allowed to lapse, CITB requires the full course to be retaken, so it is well worth booking the refresher in good time.
Ready to get qualified? Book your SMSTS course online today and train live from Norwich with a CITB-approved trainer, or call us free on 0808 164 2780 and our team will help you pick a date, arrange a group booking or answer any questions about the course.
Modules breakdown
Across the five days, your tutor works through the full CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme syllabus, blending live teaching with group discussions, case studies and daily knowledge checks. Every module is taught with the site manager’s responsibilities in mind, covering the following key areas:
Health and safety legislation
- Health and Safety at Work Act fundamentals and their implications for construction
- Environmental legislation affecting construction sites
- Recent developments and new guidance in safety regulations
- Responsibilities under relevant legislation, and industry best practice beyond the legal minimum
Risk management
- Conducting thorough risk assessments and implementing the necessary control measures
- Ensuring safe working practices across different site activities
- Managing common safety issues on construction sites
- Creating systems for continual safety awareness
Leadership and communication
- Developing a positive safety culture on site
- Techniques for communicating safety protocols effectively
- Engaging the workforce in health and safety initiatives
- Managing subcontractors and supporting site supervisors in their safety responsibilities
Practical site management
- Day-to-day safety management techniques
- Responding to incidents and near misses
- Documentation and record-keeping requirements
- Site inspections, audits, toolbox talks and safety briefings
Special site hazards
- Working at height safety protocols
- Plant and equipment safety
- Excavation and groundworks safety
- Managing hazardous substances
- Electrical safety on construction sites
You attend all five training days, take part in the group activities and knowledge checks, then sit the final exam. On passing, you receive the official CITB SMSTS certificate, valid for five years, which you keep current with the two-day SMSTS Refresher Course before it expires. If you supervise rather than manage a site, the two-day SSSTS course may be the better fit – our team can help you choose.
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