CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme Refresher (SMSTS-R)

Two days, totalling 15 hours of delivery under the CITB scheme rules. Attendance at all 15 hours is mandatory, so you cannot take the two days weeks apart or miss a session and catch up later. Some providers run the two days consecutively, others across a weekend.

No. The refresher is only available while your existing certificate is still valid. The CITB scheme rules are explicit that anyone who does not hold an in-date certificate must complete the full five-day SMSTS course again if they wish to remain certificated, and that this is not subject to appeal. Book the refresher three to six months before your expiry date rather than in the final weeks, because popular dates fill and a course that runs after your expiry is no use to you.

At any point while your certificate is still in date. Renewing early does not shorten your new certificate, which runs five years from the date you pass rather than from your old expiry date, so there is no advantage in leaving it late and a good deal of risk.

Yes. A live, tutor-led online refresher leads to exactly the same CITB Site Safety Plus certificate as the classroom course. It is not self-paced e-learning: sessions run to a timetable with a tutor present, and the examination is invigilated, so you will need a private room and your camera on.

Photographic identification is required at registration, and providers will ask for proof of your current SMSTS certificate. Without either, attendance can be refused on the day.

A re-sit may be available, subject to the CITB Site Safety Plus scheme rules and to the provider's own arrangements. Ask before you book if this matters to you, since arrangements differ between centres.