Excavation Marshal Training

Get trained, tested and ready for the role with Vally Plant Training.

Our NPORS Excavation Marshal Training is available at our Tewkesbury training centre, with a one-day novice course for new candidates and a one-day test-only route for experienced Excavation Marshals.

Individual and team bookings are welcome.

New to the Role?: Build your skills with our one-day novice course.

Already Experienced?: Book a one-day test-only route at our Tewkesbury centre.

Call 01684 297167.

Enquire About Excavation Marshal Training.

Never done the role before?

Our novice Excavation Marshal course takes just one day, with a maximum of three candidates, giving you the training you need before assessment.

Already working as an Excavation Marshal and confident you know the job?

The Experienced Worker Test is also one day, with up to six experienced candidates and no training included.

You'll book and train directly with Vally Plant Training – an established, family-run plant training provider delivering operator and construction training since 2014.

We're not a course-booking broker.

Not sure which route to book?

Call 01684 297167, tell us what experience you have and we'll help you choose the right course and get booked.

An Excavation Marshal is a person involved in helping control and monitor excavation activities so work can be carried out safely.

The role is particularly relevant where excavation could affect underground services, where plant and people are working close together, or where excavation work needs to follow an agreed safe system of work.

This isn't simply a case of standing next to an excavator and watching it dig.

An effective Excavation Marshal needs to understand the hazards associated with excavation, how buried services are identified, the importance of site information and permits, and when work needs to be stopped because conditions no longer match the agreed plan.

This course can be suitable for people who are expected to monitor, control or assist with excavation work, including:

You don't need to be an excavator operator to become an Excavation Marshal.

The important thing is understanding what is happening around the excavation, what the hazards are and what your responsibilities are.

If you've never worked as an Excavation Marshal before, or don't have the knowledge and experience needed to go straight into assessment, choose the novice Excavation Marshal course.

Our novice course takes one day and is limited to a maximum of three candidates.

You'll receive instruction before completing the required assessment.

This is the route we'd normally recommend rather than trying to save money by booking a test you're not ready to pass.

If you're already working as an Excavation Marshal and have sufficient knowledge and practical experience, you may not need the novice course.

The Experienced Worker Test (EWT) is a one-day test-only route for up to six candidates.

There is no training included.

You therefore need to arrive ready to demonstrate the required knowledge and competence.

Refresher training is available for people who have previously completed suitable training but need to update their knowledge and competence.

This may be appropriate where you haven't carried out the role for some time, your employer requires updated training, or your knowledge needs refreshing before returning to excavation work.

The course is focused on the knowledge needed to help manage excavation activities safely.

Subjects can include:

The aim isn't to turn a one-day course into a classroom lecture.

It is to give you practical knowledge you can apply when you're standing next to a real excavation and need to recognise when something isn't right.

Electricity cables, gas pipes, water mains, telecommunications and other buried services can all be present beneath a work area.

A service drawing is useful, but it shouldn't simply be treated as proof of exactly what is in the ground.

Safe excavation involves planning the work, obtaining relevant information, locating and identifying services and using appropriate excavation methods.

The HSE's HSG47 guidance, Avoiding Danger from Underground Services, is an important reference for anyone involved in this type of work.

These courses are related, but they're not the same thing.

CAT & Genny training focuses specifically on using cable avoidance equipment and a signal generator to help locate buried services.

Excavation Marshal training has a broader focus on helping monitor and control excavation work and the hazards surrounding it.

Depending on your job, you may benefit from completing both.

If you're going to be responsible for using locating equipment before excavation starts, don't assume Excavation Marshal training automatically replaces practical CAT & Genny training.

The names sound similar, but the roles have different focuses.

An Excavation Marshal is specifically concerned with excavation activities and the hazards associated with digging and ground disturbance.

A Plant Marshal or Plant Banksman is primarily concerned with helping control plant movements and maintaining safe interaction between machinery, people and the working environment.

Some construction workers may perform responsibilities that overlap, but one course shouldn't automatically be treated as a substitute for another.

For individuals, the easiest option is normally to complete your Excavation Marshal course at our Tewkesbury training centre in Gloucestershire.

We're based at Newton Farm Business Park, Ashchurch, Tewkesbury, GL20 7BE.

The centre is conveniently located close to M5 Junction 9, making it accessible from Gloucester, Cheltenham, Worcester, Evesham, Birmingham, Bristol and the wider Midlands and South West.

You don't need to be employed by a large construction company to book training with us.

Individual bookings are welcome.

Although this main course page is deliberately aimed at individuals wanting to book training, we also work directly with construction companies, groundworks contractors, utilities businesses and civil engineering employers.

If several employees need training, we can discuss on-site Excavation Marshal Training at your workplace or site anywhere in the UK, subject to suitable arrangements.

Training your employees together can reduce travel and downtime and may allow the course to be based around the type of excavation work your workforce actually encounters.

Not every employer requires an NPORS card.

Where appropriate, Vally Plant Training can also discuss an in-house training and certification option for businesses that need evidence their employees have received suitable training and assessment for their internal work.

An in-house certificate is not the same as an NPORS Operator Card.

Whether in-house certification is acceptable depends on the requirements of the employer, client, site, principal contractor and insurer.

If you're an individual hoping to work across different construction sites, check what certification employers require before choosing an in-house route purely on price.

Our current centre-based prices are: Experienced Worker Test: From £280 + VAT per person Novice Excavation Marshal Course: From £649 + VAT per person NPORS Card & Registration: £45 + VAT per person These prices apply to relevant training or testing completed at our Gloucestershire training centre.

Company and on-site training is quoted separately because candidate numbers, location and site requirements vary.

Vally Plant Training is a CITB Training Provider Network Member.

Funding may be available to eligible CITB-registered employers for qualifying training, subject to current CITB rules and eligibility.

If your employer is paying for your Excavation Marshal course, it is worth checking whether funding can be claimed.

Come prepared for practical construction-site training.

Candidates should normally bring:

Vally Plant Training has been delivering plant and construction training since 2014.

We're a family-run business and an NPORS Approved Training Provider, so when you contact us you're dealing directly with the company providing your training rather than a national booking agency passing the course to somebody else.

For individuals, that means a straightforward route from enquiry to training.

For employers, it means we can discuss the actual job, candidate numbers and training requirements before quoting.

Most importantly, we want candidates to leave understanding the role they're expected to carry out – not simply having sat through a course.

New to the role or already experienced?

Tell us what experience you have and we'll help you choose the right route.

Train directly with Vally Plant Training at our Tewkesbury centre or ask about company training at your site.

Book Your Excavation Marshal Course