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Excavation and Reinstatement NVQ Level 2
Excavation and Reinstatement NVQ Level 2
Find the services, open the ground safely, put it back to spec — utility streetworks in three acts. Prove your competence with a work-based NVQ assessed on your jobs, on the typical route to the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card. It costs £750 fixed with no VAT, typically takes 4–8 weeks with assessment carried out remotely or on site from your normal work — no exams, no classroom, and leads to the Blue Skilled Worker card.
Qualification Overview
Utility gangs open more holes near live services than anyone else in construction — and put them back under a specification that gets cored and inspected. Locating apparatus, hand-digging the safe zone, compacting backfill in the right layers with the right materials: it’s a defined competence, and this NVQ evidences it from the streetworks and site jobs you already do.
A CTG assessor meets you on jobs, observes locating, excavation and reinstatement, and gathers photos, witness statements and professional discussion. No exams, no classroom — assessor visits are included as standard.
You achieve the GQA Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering (qualification code 600/6515/1) through the Excavation and Reinstatement pathway — the typical qualification route to the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card.
Qualification Structure
Key information
| Full title | GQA Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering |
| Qualification code | 600/6515/1 |
| Pathway | Excavation and Reinstatement |
| Level | 2 |
| Awarding body | GQA |
| Price | £750 — fixed, no VAT |
| Typical completion | 4–8 weeks |
| Assessment | On-site evidence — no exams, no classroom |
| Typical CSCS route | Blue Skilled Worker |
What the Excavation and Reinstatement pathway covers
The pathway covers locating utilities, manual excavation and reinstatement work, plus the qualification’s mandatory units. It’s the occupational qualification for the gang — separate from NRSWA streetworks operative/supervisor accreditations (which remain your scheme’s requirement) and from plant units like the Vacuum Excavator NVQ or Loader Compressor NVQ that often work alongside. We’ll map your tickets and role honestly at enrolment.
Working on highways? Same trade, second route
Excavation and reinstatement is also a pathway of the Highways Maintenance qualification (601/8294/5) — the natural route for operatives on permanent highway reinstatement crews. Same price, same card outcome. Tell us where you work and we’ll register the right one. See the Highways Maintenance NVQ.
Who this NVQ is for
Experienced operatives on utility, telecoms and streetworks gangs. You should be working with minimal supervision. Typical evidence: reading plans and locating apparatus with CAT and genny, marking and confirming positions, breaking out and hand-excavating safe zones around live services, supporting excavations, backfilling in compacted layers with specified materials, laying base courses and permanent or temporary reinstatement, and keeping records the inspector will ask for.
Entry requirements
No formal entry qualifications. You must be doing excavation and reinstatement work now, on jobs a CTG assessor can attend. New starters should build experience first — the NVQ assesses existing competence.
CSCS card route
This Level 2 NVQ is the typical qualification for the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card, together with the relevant CITB Health, Safety & Environment test. NRSWA streetworks cards are a separate scheme with their own requirements. CSCS issues its cards, not CTG. See our CSCS cards guide.
Units — mandatory and optional
You achieve the GQA Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering — Construction Operations, qualification code 600/6515/1. The unit structure below comes from the official GQA specification — your assessor maps your day-to-day work to these units at enrolment.
Mandatory units
- Conforming to General Health, Safety and Welfare in the Workplace
- Conforming to Productive Working Practices in the Workplace
Site safety units (10 credits required)
- Establishing Work Area Protection and Safety in the Workplace
- Segregating the Area for Highways Works in the Workplace
Excavation and Reinstatement pathway — mandatory units
- Locating and Protecting Utilities Apparatus and Sub-structures in the Workplace
- Excavating Holes and Trenches — Manual Digging in the Workplace
Optional units (minimum 12 credits)
- Reinstating Ground Condition in the Workplace
- Reinstating Excavation and Highway Surfaces in the Workplace
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Excavation and Reinstatement NVQ take?
Typically 4–8 weeks — utility gangs open and close ground daily.
Does this replace my NRSWA streetworks ticket?
No — NRSWA accreditation is its own legal scheme. The NVQ evidences occupational competence and supports the Blue CSCS route; the two sit side by side.
We use a vac-ex for the dig — whose evidence is that?
The machine work maps to the vacuum excavator plant unit; your hand excavation, locating and reinstatement map here. Gangs commonly take both — we’ll sort it in one call.
Can the whole gang enrol together?
Yes — one visit plan across the gang’s roles is the efficient way to do it.
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Entry requirements
You are already doing the work day to day, as an employee or self-employed. There are no entry qualifications and no exams — you are assessed on the job you already do.
To start Level 2 qualification you need:
- A relevant job to be assessed in. This is a competence qualification, so you must have access to real work of the right type while you are registered. No workplace, no evidence.
- Proof of identity — a passport, driving licence or similar, as the awarding body requires.
- A National Insurance number, so we can obtain your Unique Learner Number.
- Enough English to explain your work to your assessor and to talk through your evidence.
- A device with a camera — a phone is fine. Evidence is photos and short videos of your own work, uploaded to your e-portfolio.
You do not need: any prior qualification, any classroom attendance, or to sit an exam. Assessment is entirely in your workplace via a remote e-portfolio, nationwide.
Tell us about any support need, disability or learning difficulty when you enrol and we will arrange reasonable adjustments — it does not affect whether you can take the qualification.
The awarding body sets the final entry criteria for each qualification. If you are not sure whether your current role gives you the right evidence, ask us before you book — we would rather tell you honestly than register you for something you cannot complete.
What card does this NVQ lead to?
Leads to the Blue CSCS Skilled Worker card
On completion you can apply for the Blue CSCS Skilled Worker card, proving competence in your trade.
Your NVQ pathway
- Level 2 Skilled
- Level 3 Advanced
- Level 4 Supervisor
- Level 5 Senior Supervisor
- Level 6 Manager
Your current qualification is highlighted. Progress up the pathway as your career develops.
How the e-portfolio assessment works
- Enrol and be assigned a dedicated occupational assessor.
- Gather workplace evidence — photos, videos, witness statements — via our online portal.
- Complete a professional discussion and observations against the 600/6515/1 standards.
- Certification, then apply to CSCS for your card.