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Setting Up CSCS Card Verification in Breadcrumb

To get set up, you'll need to: sign a commercial agreement, set up the integration, and make sure inductions ask for CSCS card.

With CSCS Card Verification, Breadcrumb can check cards against CSCS Smart Check when a worker submits their induction. Your teams then see the result (valid or invalid), the expiry date, and the profile photo, right next to the card photos the worker uploaded. 

This article is for company admins. It covers the three things you need to do to switch it on: get your Smart Check credentials from CSCS, connect them in Breadcrumb, and make sure your inductions ask for a CSCS card.

 

Before you start

  • This is for UK companies only. The CSCS Smart Check settings only appear for companies on Breadcrumb's UK service.
  • You need admin access to your company's settings in the web portal.
  • You need your own agreement with CSCS. Breadcrumb can't check cards on your behalf using a shared account. Each company connects with its own Smart Check credentials.
  • Workers need the latest version of the Breadcrumb app. The registration number field doesn't appear in older versions. 

 

Step 1: Get your Smart Check credentials from CSCS

To use Smart Check through Breadcrumb, your company signs CSCS's standard Smart Check licence. It's a three-way agreement between your company (the Service User), Breadcrumb (your IT Partner) and CSCS. CSCS sets the terms, and they're the same for every company.

If you already use Smart Check on its own, you'll most likely still need to sign this agreement to use it through Breadcrumb.

  1. Contact your Customer Success Manager and let them know you'd like to set up CSCS card verification. They'll send you the agreement.
  2. Fill in your company's details and sign. Breadcrumb and CSCS then sign too.
  3. CSCS invoices you directly for the licence. It doesn't appear on your Breadcrumb invoice.
  4. Once the first invoice is paid, CSCS sends you three things: a username, a password and an API key.

When you sign up, CSCS will ask roughly how many cards you expect to check each week. They use this to set the limits on your account, so give them a realistic number across all your sites.

One licence covers your company across all of its sites. The licence renews every year, and CSCS needs 60 days' written notice if you want to cancel. Your Customer Success Manager can walk you through the fees.

Step 2: Connect Smart Check in Breadcrumb

 

Breadcrumb won't save credentials that fail the test. If you see an error such as "Invalid credentials", check each field for typos or stray spaces, then test again. If it still fails, contact CSCS to confirm your details are active.

What the connection status means

  • Connected: your credentials work and cards are being checked. You'll also see when Breadcrumb last connected successfully.
  • Not configured: no credentials have been saved yet. No cards are checked.
  • Failing: Breadcrumb can't connect with the saved credentials. Check with CSCS whether they've changed, then enter the new ones.

Keeping your credentials safe

Once saved, your password and API key are hidden. You'll only see the last few characters. Breadcrumb stores them encrypted and never shows them in full again, to you or anyone else.

Updating your credentials

If CSCS issues new credentials, go back to CSCS Smartcheck, enter the new details and test the connection. The new credentials replace the old ones once the test succeeds. Past check results stay as they are.

Step 3: Ask for a CSCS card in your inductions

Breadcrumb checks any card collected through a file question with the document type set to CSCS Card. The fields the worker fills in come from the document type, so there's nothing else to configure on the question.

If your inductions already ask for a CSCS card

Open each induction and check the CSCS question. If it's a file question with the document type set to CSCS Card, you're done. Checks start on the next induction submitted.

If you need to add the question

 

Repeat for every induction where you collect CSCS cards. If a question uses a different document type, or a custom one named something like "CSCS", Breadcrumb won't check it. Change the document type to CSCS Card.

You can add the question before your credentials arrive from CSCS. Workers can still upload their card and your site managers can review the photos. Checks start once the connection is live.

 

What workers see

When the induction reaches the CSCS card question, the worker enters:

  • Their card registration number
  • The card's expiry date
  • A photo of the front and back of the card

Breadcrumb uses the surname on the worker's Breadcrumb profile for the check, so it needs to match the name on their card. 

 

What to expect once it's live

  • Only new inductions are checked. Cards submitted before the connection went live aren't checked retrospectively.
  • Results are for your company only. If a worker inducts with another company, that company runs its own check under its own agreement.
  • Your site managers make the call. An invalid or expired result doesn't block approval or site access. It gives the reviewer more to go on.
  • The check confirms the card, not the person. It tells you the card is real and in date. Site managers can compare the photo CSCS returns with the worker in front of them.
  • The expiry date on file doesn't change. Your site managers see the expiry date CSCS holds, but the Cards list still shows the date the worker entered.
  • Only CSCS cards are checked for now. Other schemes, like CPCS or IPAF, aren't checked yet.

 

Need Help?

If you require any assistance or have a question, please contact our Support Team on +44 7400 977 382 or email us at support@breadcrumb.co, and we'll be happy to help.