What Is the SWQR Card? NRSWA Street Works Cards Explained

If your team digs, signs or guards works on the public highway, sooner or later someone will ask to see their SWQR card. Here is what it is, who needs one and how to get it without losing anyone from site for longer than you have to.

SWQR in one sentence

SWQR stands for the Street Works Qualifications Register, the national record of street works qualifications under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA). The SWQR card is the photo card that shows which NRSWA units a person holds and when each one expires.

Who needs an SWQR card?

The Act requires street works on the public highway to be carried out with a qualified supervisor and at least one qualified operative on site. In practice that means:

• Utility companies and their contractors excavating or reinstating in the highway
• Highways teams and term contractors carrying out works covered by the Act
• Councils, grounds teams and small contractors who sign, light and guard works on the road or footway, and are increasingly asked for the card by the clients they work for

If the job is only setting out traffic management, the course you need may be Chapter 8 instead. If the job involves street works under NRSWA, the client will expect SWQR.

SWQR and Chapter 8: what is the difference?

Many teams need both. We can run them back to back so people are only away from work once.

Which units do you need?

The card is built from units. Operatives and supervisors each have their own units, and you only need the ones that match the work:

• Signing, lighting and guarding: needed by almost everyone working on the highway
• Location and avoidance of underground apparatus: anyone who breaks ground
• Excavation and reinstatement units: backfill, sub-base, cold-lay, hot-lay, modular surfaces and concrete, depending on the trade
• Supervisor units: for the person responsible for the site

Not sure which combination your team needs? Send us the job roles and we will tell you before you book.

How long does an SWQR card last?

Each unit is valid for five years and carries its own expiry date on the card. To keep working, operatives and supervisors take a reassessment (refresher) before the units expire. Book early: you can reassess up to six months before expiry, and letting units lapse can stop people working on the highway.

How to get the card

1. New starters take the full NRSWA novice course: four days covering the core operative units, with supervisors training alongside.
2. One or two units only? Take single units, one day each, such as signing, lighting and guarding on your own site.
3. Cards expiring? Book the two-day NRSWA refresher at your depot.

Safe and Trained is a CABWI-approved centre with its own assessors. We register delegates, assess, submit the claims and chase the cards, so you do not have to. Cards usually follow a few weeks after the course, so build that into your start dates.

Need cards for a new contract or a winter crew? Get a quote for NRSWA training or call 0333 0523 003.