PASMA Guide
What PASMA is
PASMA is the Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association — the UK trade body for mobile access towers. It sets the industry standard for how towers are built and how people are trained to build them.
A PASMA card is the qualification most UK sites accept as proof that someone is competent to assemble, alter, move, inspect and dismantle a mobile access tower.
Who needs it
Anyone who builds, alters, moves, inspects or dismantles a tower should be PASMA trained, or working under the direct supervision of someone who is.
You do not need a PASMA card simply to stand on a tower that a competent person has built and handed over. But on a managed site the principal contractor will often want everyone using it to be trained.
Is it a legal requirement?
Not by name. The law (Work at Height Regulations 2005 and PUWER 1998) requires competence. PASMA is how the UK industry demonstrates it — which in practice makes it the standard you will be asked for.
What the course covers
The standard Towers for Users course is one day and covers:
- The regulations and where responsibility sits
- Tower components and how the system works
- Safe assembly methods, including 3T (Through the Trapdoor) and AGR (Advanced
Guardrail)
- Stabilisers, ballast and the manufacturer's instructions
- Inspection before use and after alteration
- Moving a tower safely
- Hazards: wind, overhead lines, ground conditions, loading
There are other courses for specific applications — low-level access, linked towers, combined ladder and tower.
The card
A PASMA card is valid for five years. Renewal is a one-day refresher.
Where to train
Courses run through PASMA-approved training centres across the UK, including several in London. Find one at pasma.co.uk.
Several PASMA-approved centres run courses in and around London. If you are not sure where to start, call us and we will point you at one.
How this affects your hire
We supply the manufacturer's assembly guide with every tower and our AGR towers support the safest build-up method. What we cannot do is make the build competent — that is the trained person on site.
If nobody on your job is trained, do not improvise. Call +44 7366 166 658 and we will talk through the options.
Related
Frequently asked questions
Is PASMA training a legal requirement?
The law requires that work at height is done by people who are competent. PASMA is the recognised route to demonstrating that competence for mobile access towers, which is why sites ask for it. The requirement is competence; PASMA is how you evidence it.
Do I need PASMA for work on my own house?
No, and this is where the honest answer matters more than the legal one. The duty falls on employers and the self-employed at work, not on you in your own home. The tower does not know the difference, though — if you are not trained, read the assembly guide properly or let us erect it for you.