FieldClear

Plant hire · UK

Training Matrix & Certificate Tracking for Plant Hire

See which operators, demonstrators, fitters and delivery drivers meet the scheme categories and tickets each hire service needs — before the machine leaves the yard.

Examples of qualifications are illustrative. Your organisation decides which requirements to assign.

Start your 14-day free trialFree plant operator training matrix template

No credit card required.

The operational problem

Plant hire desks confirm categories under time pressure. Plant hire certificate tracking software keeps scheme, machine category and role requirements on one live grid so a telehandler booking is not covered by an excavator date that happens to be green. You assign what each service needs; FieldClear calculates current, expiring, expired and missing.

  • Category detail disappears in one cell

    “CPCS valid” looks ready until the customer asks for a specific size class or attachment endorsement the spreadsheet never stored.

  • Hired-in operators arrive with photo cards

    Agency cover emails a card image after the booking is confirmed, and the yard matrix is still last week’s export.

  • Workshop and delivery roles overlap badly

    Fitters, demonstrators and delivery drivers share one plant tab even when ALLMI, Driver CPC and IPAF demonstrator do not apply the same way.

What plant hire teams typically track

Examples only. Requirements vary by role, activity, client and site. FieldClear does not decide what is legally required.

  • CPCS plant category (machine-specific, as printed)
  • NPORS plant category (where that scheme is used)
  • IPAF demonstrator or operator category where assigned
  • ALLMI lorry loader (where loaders are supplied)
  • Slinger / signaller or banksman training where assigned
  • Plant mover / shunter familiarisation as your process records it
  • Driver CPC (periodic training evidence where you track it)
  • LOLER or lifting-accessories awareness where assigned
  • PUWER awareness where your process assigns it
  • Emergency First Aid at Work
  • Customer or site induction (often short renewal cycles)

Example training matrix

Example hire-desk view — a current cell is not authorisation to operate any particular machine or site.

Example hire-desk view — a current cell is not authorisation to operate any particular machine or site.
WorkerRoleCPCS categoryNPORS categoryIPAFALLMIDriver CPC
Marcus Webb360 excavator op.CurrentN/AN/AN/AN/A
Nina PatelTelehandler op.CurrentN/AExpiringN/AN/A
Owen ClarkeDemonstratorCurrentCurrentCurrentN/AN/A
Grace LiuDelivery driverN/AN/AN/ACurrentExpiring
Hassan AliMobile fitterMissingN/AN/AN/ACurrent

Fictional example for illustration. Status labels mirror how a live matrix surfaces current, expiring, expired and missing records.

Why spreadsheets struggle in this sector

Plant-hire Excel sheets usually start as one “operators” tab with a CPCS column and a few conditional-formatting rules. Then customers ask for category codes, NPORS appears alongside CPCS, and demonstrators share a row style with delivery drivers. Someone pastes “OK” instead of a date. A hired-in excavator operator looks green company-wide while the only person with the matching category for tomorrow’s 21-tonne job expired last month. Card photos sit in WhatsApp groups named after depots. By the time a framework customer wants a mobilisation pack, coordinators are rebuilding rows from memory instead of filtering a trustworthy matrix.

How it works

From spreadsheet to live matrix in minutes.

No implementation project. No onboarding calls. Start with the file you already maintain.

  1. Step 1: Upload your matrix

    Import your existing Excel or CSV file.

  2. Step 2: We organise it

    Map workers, roles, requirements and expiry dates.

  3. Step 3: See what needs attention

    Instantly see expired, expiring and missing requirements.

Upload my matrix

Expiry tracking

See what’s expiring before it blocks work.

Expired, expiring and missing records surface as a work list. Attach certificate files to the same worker record as the date so evidence and status cannot drift apart.

Reminders

Automatic reminders before renewals.

Choose how far ahead reminders fire and who receives them. Plan refresher booking while there is still time — not the morning a card fails at the gate.

Quick answer

Plant hire certificate tracking software is a live training matrix for UK hire fleets: operators, demonstrators, fitters and drivers against the scheme categories and tickets your organisation assigns, with automatic current / expiring / expired / missing statuses, attached evidence and reminders. It does not authorise plant operation or decide what a customer requires. For the product overview see training matrix software; for sector operations see the plant hire training matrix hub.

Competency matrix vs training matrix

A competency judgement asks whether someone can run this machine, with this attachment, on this site, today. A training matrix records which cards and courses they hold and when those dates expire. FieldClear is training-matrix software: scheme, category, evidence and reminders against assigned requirements. Keep familiarisation and company authorisation outside the same cell as the card expiry if you want either view to stay honest.

How FieldClear helps plant-hire teams

  • Record scheme and category separately — CPCS and NPORS are not interchangeable cells
  • Assign different baselines to operators, demonstrators, fitters and delivery drivers
  • Filter by category and expiry window before confirming a wet hire
  • Distinguish blank (missing) from N/A when a column does not apply to the role
  • Import the Excel sheet your depots already disagree about

Scheme rules sit with the scheme owners and with your customers’ acceptance criteria. Use general health and safety context on HSE and treat every FieldClear column as something you chose to assign — not a statutory shopping list published by the software. A green cell is never clearance to operate.

Certificate storage and reminders

Attach card images and certificate PDFs to the worker so customer packs match the people named on the booking. Reminders help when test centres are scarce and several operators trained in the same month. Export when a framework audit asks for evidence. Transparent pricing is based on active workers; the 14-day trial needs no card.

Example qualifications — organisation-assigned

Common examples UK plant-hire firms track include CPCS or NPORS categories matched to machines, IPAF where demonstrators or MEWP hires need it, ALLMI for lorry loaders, banksman or slinger training where the service includes it, Driver CPC evidence for delivery roles, and first aid. None of these is automatically “required by FieldClear”. You assign them; we track the records.

Templates and next steps

Start from the free plant operator training matrix template, or upload the sheet your hire desk already runs. When you want sector language for booking and mobilisation workflows, use the plant hire training matrix vertical. FieldClear tracks assigned requirements only — it is not legal advice and a current cell is not authorisation to operate.

Pricing

Simple pricing based on workforce size.

Every plan includes the whole product. The only thing that changes is how many workers you’re tracking.

  • Starter

    £29/month

    Up to 25 active workers

    For smaller contractors moving off a single spreadsheet.

    Start 14-day free trial
  • Most common

    Growth

    £59/month

    Up to 75 active workers

    For growing teams with several roles and requirement sets.

    Start 14-day free trial

  • Pro

    £99/month

    Up to 200 active workers

    For established contractors managing multiple teams and sites.

    Start 14-day free trial

Every plan includes

  • Live training matrix
  • Certificate and evidence storage
  • Expiry reminders
  • Spreadsheet import (Excel or CSV)
  • Roles and assigned requirements
  • Users and permissions
  • Activity history
  • Filters, search and saved views
  • Data export
  • Email support

14-day free trial. No card required.

View pricing in full

Questions people ask before signing up

Can I import my existing Excel training matrix?

Yes. Upload an Excel or CSV file, map the columns to workers, roles, qualifications and expiry dates, then preview the result. Nothing is created until you confirm the import.

Does the software tell me which qualifications are legally required?

No. The system helps you track the requirements your organisation assigns. You remain responsible for determining what applies to your workers and activities. We do not provide legal or health and safety advice.

Can I get reminders before certificates expire?

Yes. The system monitors expiry dates and sends reminders in advance. You choose how far ahead reminders are sent and who receives them.

Can I store certificates?

Yes. Attach supporting evidence such as PDFs and images to worker records, so the certificate sits alongside the expiry date rather than in a separate folder.

How does the free trial work?

You get 14 days with the full product and no card required. Import your matrix, invite colleagues and see whether it fits how you work. If you do nothing at the end of the trial, the account simply stops.

When should we use FieldClear instead of Excel?

Use FieldClear when more than one person edits the matrix, when certificates expire without anyone noticing, or when you need evidence attached to the same record as the date. A carefully maintained spreadsheet can still work for a tiny team with one owner; FieldClear is for when the spreadsheet has become an active operational job.

Can we track CPCS and NPORS categories separately on the same operator?

Yes. Keep scheme and category as distinct fields so a current NPORS telehandler cannot be mistaken for a current CPCS excavator category. Filters then answer whether someone matches the machine on the booking. FieldClear does not decide which scheme a customer accepts.

How do we handle hired-in operators without rewriting the whole matrix?

Add them as agency or subcontractor workers with the same category columns you use for employed operators. Record worker type so you can filter cover separately. Attach the card image on day one; treat missing evidence as missing, not as N/A.

Does a green CPCS cell mean they can run any machine in that family?

No. The matrix shows whether the assigned category record is current, expiring, expired or missing. Familiarisation on a specific machine, attachment endorsements and site rules remain with your competent process. Tracking dates is not the same as authorising work.

Related resources

Start your 14-day free trial

No credit card required. Upload your existing matrix or start from scratch and see who is current, what is expiring and what is missing.

Start your 14-day free trialFree plant operator training matrix template

14-day free trial. No card required.