Considering doing a HIAB course, are there different levels of courses, as i have seen cranes on lorrys that appear to be quite basic then theres the ones that look like you need a degree to operate 
The course you need is âVehicle Mounted Lorry Loaderâ & itâs certificate should satisfy anyone wanting to see evidence of training on a Hiab type loader.
Iâve never come across specific training being required for the capacity/size or type of job itâs being used for.
Every, for simplicityâs sake lets just call it a Hiab, is differant, donât let anyone tell you otherwise & each type of job theyâre used for has itâs own particular skillset. Using a brick grab in a builders merchantâs is very much differant to moving site cabins & containers.
Agencies seem to pay anything from ÂŁ0.50 to ÂŁ3.00ph premium for Hiab jobs as opposed to straight LGV C rates so it could be worthwhile, if youâre looking to bump your earnings in a permanent job then donât bother, best Iâve seen are builders merchants at ÂŁ18k per year or general haulage for ÂŁ7.50-ÂŁ8.00ph.
I am doing mine on thursday next week ,as an old mate of mine runs a builders merchants just down the road from me with 12 trucks ,i believe its using levers,where as most saint gobain work/agencies, all require remote experience so just check when you sign up,he said he would give me saturday morning tuition on the remotes.
I did my âHiabâ course a few years ago and it was the best ÂŁ200 i spent. If your doing agency work they will love you when you tell them that you have your Hiab cert. As previously stated, you wont earn a fortune from it but youâll hardly be out of work. Iâve worked with both remote and sticks and you get used to what you have. Site cabins/containers are much easier with a remote though. Brick grab is just not right, never felt confidant that it wasnât gonna drop out.
Needs to be a CITB accredited course really, I did an RTITB accredited course and found it wasnât recognised most places. The school where I did my course has since recognised this and gone on to only doing the CITB course (which is a lot longer and a lot more expensive!)
skids:
Needs to be a CITB accredited course really, I did an RTITB accredited course and found it wasnât recognised most places.
Thankfully this is becoming less common, although you are right in what you say.
There are 5 bodies that are accredited by the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) and relevant training from any of those will show that the employer has satisfied his H&S (training) responsibilities.
What we are finding with HIAB using companies now is that they want to see specific training for âBrickâ, âClamâ and âRemote Controlâ. A straightforward HIAB course will only be accepted for hook work by many of the companies we deal with. Any HIAB qualification card/cert should be annotated with the attachments/type for which training has been taken.
There are 5 bodies that are accredited by the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) and relevant training from any of those will show that the employer has satisfied his H&S (training) responsibilities.
What we are finding with HIAB using companies now is that they want to see specific training for âBrickâ, âClamâ and âRemote Controlâ. A straightforward HIAB course will only be accepted for hook work by many of the companies we deal with. Any HIAB qualification card/cert should be annotated with the attachments/type for which training has been taken.
Itâs the employerâs legal duty to satisfy themselveâs that the operator is competent on the equipment, it is not a legal requirement for the operator to hold any certificate of training . . . BUT . . . that certificate goes a long way to satisfying the employers legal obligation. (Not all the way I wish to add !)
If an operator were to produce a certificate of training on a Hiab with brick grab attachment this does not necessarily satisfy the employers legal obligations if they were to ask that operator to use a clam, there are enough significant differances between the 2 to need further instruction.
Any employer asking for evidence of competency on the particular equipment that they expect the operator to be using is trying to do it correctly.
Anyone with Hiab training that doesnât mention remote control will need re-training, again there are significant enough differances between the 2 to invalidate any evidence of competency if previous training/operating has only been done on lever operated Hiabs.
P.S. Training doesnât expire either, those certificates that run for 2,3,5yrs etc only become invalid if/when the equipment being used is significantly differant to that which you were trained on.
if youâre lucky you could find a hiab course that also counts towards the driver cpc 
Thanks for the comments guys,
my local training schools only seem to offer either âALLMI/RTITBâ cert, unless i travel quite a bit. according to one of my agency offices that advertise most of the hiab work i should go for the ALLMI cert, so this worries me a bit that i might waste my hard earnt cash. what do you think.
HSC recognition of accrediting bodies:
Recognised accrediting bodies
Construction Industry Training Board
LANTRA National Training Organisation.
The Independent Training Standards Scheme and Register (ITSSAR)
National Plant Operators Registration Scheme
RTITB
AITT
Sorry, havenât got time to find the HSE link for this same info.
ALLMI â â ?
ALLMI, seems to be the popular cert thats asked for by most of the agency offices that i contacted today, not researched what body it actually is though,
I had a return phone call today from one of my local training schools explaining thier prices etc and they let me know that they do do a citb course, after i picked my self up of the floor i asked the lady to repeat the cost, ÂŁ900 
i did ask would the course go towards my dcpc, phone ya back she replied.
Hi
I have my allmi cert for hiab and ive never had a problem getting work with it.
The ÂŁ900 for a c i t b certificate was for the blue cpcs you only need that one to get work everywhere no log books etc to fill in and you will have hook ,clam shell and clamp on it, thats the baby to have and you can get it far cheaper than what you have been quoted, failing that an allmi 50/m is good, ring head office in Devizes and they will sort you out, on the cheaper cert nat plant will do for building supplies A street works is a must if you want the dollars on Utilities. It all depends on what type of work you want to do, good luck anyway
Done a allmi 5day course, which 2 of counted towards cpc. Donât know cost as company paid but seems to be favoured by most employers