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The Site Management Safety Training Scheme, commonly abbreviated to SMSTS, is a 5-day course developed by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for anyone who manages or is preparing to manage a UK construction site. It sits within the CITB Site Safety Plus scheme alongside SSSTS, the Health and Safety Awareness course, and Temporary Works qualifications (Temporary Works Coordinator and Temporary Works Supervisor).
SMSTS is recognised across the UK construction industry and is required by virtually every main contractor, including Balfour Beatty, Mace, Skanska, Wates, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Morgan Sindall and BAM, for anyone in a site management or project management role. SMSTS proves the safety knowledge expected of site managers, but it is not itself a CSCS card route: the CSCS Black Manager card is earned through a construction management NVQ at Level 6 or Level 7 plus the CITB Managers and Professionals test.
The course covers the legal responsibilities of site managers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), and a wide range of construction-specific legislation including RIDDOR, LOLER, PUWER, COSHH, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The official course reference manual is the CITB GE700 Construction Site Safety, which delegates use throughout the week and can refer to during the final assessment.
The qualification is valid for 5 years, after which you'll need to complete the 2-day SMSTS Refresher to maintain your certification. The SMSTS Refresher course must be completed before your certificate expires.
Construction managers wanting deeper health and safety knowledge often add the NEBOSH Construction Certificate alongside SMSTS.
Those moving into a board level or director role can build on SMSTS with the CITB Director's Role for Health and Safety.
SMSTS is a full five days, and CITB requires attendance at every session: miss part of the course and you cannot sit the assessment. Most delegates find the week intense but well structured. A typical week starts with the legal framework: the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the CDM 2015 duty holders and what the law actually expects of the person running the site. From there the course moves into the tools you use every day as a manager: writing and reviewing risk assessments and method statements, planning site inductions and building a programme of toolbox talks.
The middle of the week covers occupational health and the high-risk activities that cause most serious incidents on UK sites: work at height and scaffold inspection, excavations, confined spaces, demolition, plant movements, fire and temporary electrics. The final day draws the week together with behavioural safety and leadership before the end-of-course assessment. Throughout the week you work from the CITB GE700 Construction Site Safety manual, the same reference you will keep using on site after the course.
Both formats lead to exactly the same CITB certificate. The classroom version puts you in a room with a tutor and a group of other managers, which many delegates prefer for the discussion and the discipline of being away from the job. The online version is a live virtual classroom delivered over Zoom or Microsoft Teams: a real tutor, fixed course days and the same assessment, not an e-learning package you click through alone. It suits managers who cannot travel, or who want to fit the course around a live project.
Delivery patterns vary by venue. Some courses run Monday to Friday in a single block, others run as day release, one day a week over five weeks, and some venues offer weekend blocks so you do not lose site time at all. Every option is shown with live dates and prices at the top of this page. If you are weighing the formats up, our guide to SMSTS online vs classroom compares them in detail, including who tends to do better in each.
The week ends with a written exam and a case study exercise, alongside ongoing tutor evaluation across the five days. The pass mark is 81%, and you can refer to the GE700 manual during the final assessment. Around 98% of delegates pass, and the ones who do not have usually missed the pre-course reading or disengaged during the week rather than been caught out by the exam itself.
If you narrowly miss the pass mark, most venues offer a free or low-cost resit. A significant fail means re-attending the course. We have written up exactly how the marking, the resit rules and the timescales work in what happens if you fail SMSTS, so you know where you stand before the week starts.
SMSTS prices vary by venue, date and format, and online courses are often cheaper than classroom ones. The price shown against each date at the top of this page is the full cost of a place, and at most venues it includes tuition, course materials including GE700 access, the assessment and the CITB certificate. For typical prices across the UK, and what moves them up or down, see our SMSTS course cost guide, which is updated with live prices.
If your business is registered with CITB, you can claim a short course grant for SMSTS and other Site Safety Plus courses. The grant is claimed by the employer after the delegate passes, and the amounts are set by CITB for each grant scheme year. Employers booking several managers at once can also request a group quote through our employer booking service, which handles multi-delegate bookings and purchase orders.
Your SMSTS certificate is valid for five years from the date of issue. Renewal is the 2-day SMSTS Refresher, and it must be completed before the certificate expires: there is no grace period, and a lapsed certificate means sitting the full five days again. Main contractors check expiry dates at induction, so most managers book the refresher two or three months ahead of expiry to be safe. Our guide to how long SMSTS lasts covers the renewal window, what happens at expiry and how to check your certificate date.
After booking you receive an initial assessment by email, and there is pre-course reading that is genuinely worth doing: it is the single biggest factor in a comfortable pass. For classroom courses bring photo ID on day one, a passport or driving licence, as identity is checked before the assessment. For online courses you need a reliable connection, a webcam and a quiet space for each of the five days. The course is delivered and assessed in English, so a reasonable level of written and spoken English is expected.
