The verification platform CSCS Smart Check has recorded its 60 millionth scan - reflecting its growing use by employers and contractors to support workforce verification and Building Safety Act compliance.
CSCS Smart Check is the only platform to verify all 2.3 million cards, including the ECS card, which display the CSCS logo, thus providing a quick, easy and secure way of ensuring the qualifications and training level of electricians and other professionals on site.
CSCS Smart Check has been heavily supported and influenced by the JIB, having been first brought into use in April 2022, under the leadership of then CSCS Alliance Chair, Jay Parmer, CEO of the JIB. The development of the initial app, and now the online and IT partner integration, was overseen by the CSCS Smart Check Development and Implementation Group, chaired by Andy Reakes, JIB & ECS COO.
The platform’s API can be built into site access and induction systems used by construction’s largest contractors. Along with the wider CSCS Alliance data, it provides valuable real-time insights on the competence occupational mixes for those using the API.
Sean Kearns, CSCS Group Chief Executive, said: “Reaching 60 million reads is a significant milestone and reflects the commitment across the sector to strengthen assurance around skills, training and qualifications.
“CSCS Smart Check as the industry’s border control technology provides real-time verification of CSCS Alliance cards as well as compliance and operational support - reducing admin, boosting efficiency, and strengthening confidence in workforce checks. In addition, it’s providing valuable real-time insights on skills and occupational trends for both contractors and Government."
The 60 millionth read was of an ECS Card, verified in January 2026 by BAM.
Andy Reakes as Chair of the CSCS Smart Check Group explained “CSCS Smart Check has already become a critical tool for verifying qualifications and card validity, but its real long-term value lies in how it will support the next phase of competence assurance across the sector.
As sector-specific competence frameworks are developed through SLG 10 and CSCS Alliance schemes align their cards and requirements to those frameworks, Smart Check will provide the platform through which compliance can be verified consistently and at scale. That means not just checking a card but assuring that individuals meet the full occupational standard – including qualifications, experience, behaviours and ongoing competence.
ECS has been embedding occupationally specific CPD and upskilling requirements for several years, recognising that competence does not stand still. Smart Check enables that approach to be reflected at the point of entry to site, giving employers confidence that workers are not only qualified, but current, competent and appropriately aligned to the role they are undertaking.”
As the industry continues to evolve and define occupational standards, CSCS Smart Check, as referenced in the Construction Leadership Council recommendations, is the tool that industry should be using to verify that individuals hold the correct card for the occupation they are undertaking.
For further details about building the CSCS Smart Check API into your organisational and site protocols, visit CSCSGroup.co.uk/SmartCheck.