Construction employers are being reminded that CSCS card-checking platform Go Smart is to be disabled on 31 March 2024.
Organisations should put transition plans in place to move to its replacement, CSCS Smart Check, as soon as possible.
Employers have used Go Smart for more 10 years to verify the skills and training of Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card holders.
Last year CSCS announced that the platform would be withdrawn on 31 March this year. Many employers have already made the switch to CSCS Smart Check via their technology providers.
However, those sites yet to transition are reminded that from 1 April 2024, card reads via Go Smart, including via any turnstiles or site access systems that rely on Go Smart’s API, will no longer work.
All existing users of Go Smart who wish to retain a card-checking function as part of site induction and site access solutions must put transition plans in place to move across to CSCS Smart Check to ensure card checks can continue.
In the first instance, employers should contact the IT provider responsible for their entry system technology to discuss a transition plan to CSCS Smart Check. These providers will then be able to access the API via CSCS and build it into site systems.
‘Imperative to discuss removal’
CSCS director of communications and marketing, Alan O’Neile, said: “Now that CSCS Smart Check has been established it is imperative that employers discuss the removal of Go Smart with their IT providers and continue to check cards digitally from April onwards.
“Card checks via CSCS Smart Check are vital in ensuring that everyone entering a construction site has the right qualifications and training for the job they do – helping improve safety on site and also enabling the industry to tackle card fraud.”
CSCS Smart Check allows all 2.1 million cards displaying the CSCS logo to be verified using a single interface. In addition to being available as an API for existing systems, it is also available as a free mobile app, with a website version coming soon.
Launched in April 2022 by the CSCS Alliance – the 38 card schemes that carry the CSCS logo – the platform has averaged more than 100,000 scans per month in 2024 and is designed to improve the construction industry’s card checking procedures and site safety while helping tackle card fraud.
CSCS continues to work closely with its IT partners to ensure industry is aware of the removal of Go Smart and encourages any employers using site access or induction systems to contact their provider in the first instance.
Employers without Go Smart or any other card-checking technology in place who are interested in integrating or using CSCS Smart Check should contact [email protected].
For further information on CSCS Smart Check, visit: CSCS.uk.com/SmartCheck.
