CPCS A61 Basic vs Advanced: Which Appointed Person Card?

The CPCS A61 Appointed Person card is the recognised UK qualification for planning lifting operations — but it is not one card. A61 is awarded at two levels, Basic and Advanced, and the difference matters: it determines which lifting operations the holder is qualified to plan, and principal contractors increasingly check the level, not just the card. This guide explains what each level covers, what the courses and practical scenarios involve, and which one your project actually needs.

The Two Levels at a Glance

A61 Basic qualifies the holder to plan basic and standard lifts — routine lifting with a single machine, well within capacity, in unexceptional conditions. Think telehandler offloading, excavator pipe-laying, straightforward lorry loader deliveries.

A61 Advanced qualifies the holder to plan the full range of lifting operations, including complex lifts: tandem and multi-crane lifts, lifts over live infrastructure, heavy or awkward loads, restricted sites, and contract lift management. Advanced is the level tier 1 contractors normally specify for anything beyond routine site lifting.

What the Courses Involve

Both routes combine classroom theory with practical planning exercises and a CPCS technical test. Candidates work through the legislation (LOLER 1998, PUWMA/PUWER, CDM 2015), BS 7121 planning methodology, load chart interpretation, ground assessment, and the production of a full lift plan. The practical scenarios are where the levels diverge: Basic candidates plan single-crane standard lifts; Advanced candidates are tested on complex scenarios — multiple cranes sharing a load, de-rating, lift-and-shift sequences, and operations where the plan must manage several trades around a live lift.

Neither course manufactures competence on its own. The card evidences training and testing; BS 7121 is explicit that competence combines training with knowledge and experience. A freshly carded AP planning their first tandem lift unsupervised is exactly the situation the standard warns against.

Which Level Does Your Project Need?

• Routine plant and materials lifting (telehandler, excavator, lorry loader, well within capacity) — an A61 Basic holder can plan these.
• Mobile crane operations — the categorisation decides it. A standard single-crane lift sits within Basic scope; anything complex needs Advanced.
• Tandem lifts, lifts over live areas, heavy/awkward loads, tower crane schemes — A61 Advanced, with genuine experience behind the card.
• Tender requirements — check the employer's requirements: many principal contractors now write "A61 Advanced" into contract preliminaries for crane work.

The categorisation itself must be done competently — a lift wrongly classed as standard to keep it within a Basic card's scope is a planning failure in its own right. If in doubt, our guide to lift categories covers the factors that push a lift up a category.

Checking a Card

CPCS cards state the category and can be verified through the CPCS card checker. When reviewing a subcontractor's lift plan, checking the author's card level against the lift category is one of the first things an independent reviewer does — mismatches are one of the recurring findings in our lift plan checking work.

RMT Solutions holds CPCS A61 with 35 years of UK construction experience across excavator, telehandler, lorry loader, mobile and tower crane operations — see our Appointed Person services or the full CPCS A61 guide.