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Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Awareness

We have doubled the grant rates for short course tiers 1 – 3. To address rising costs, you can now receive higher rates on course achievements from 1st April 2023

Grant Tier

Achievement date before 1 April 2023

Achievement date on or after 1 April 2023

Grant Tier 1

Grant Tier 1 Refresher

£30

£15

£60

£30

Grant Tier 2

Grant Tier 2 Refresher

£70

£35

£140

£70

Grant Tier 3

Grant Tier 3 Refresher

£120

£60

£240

£120

Overview

The purpose of this standard is for candidates to gain the skills required to set out or take surveys using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The content is relevant to all types of construction including earthworks, roads, houses, buildings, foundations, piles, structural steel, structures and reinforced concrete.

Duration

Minimum 1 day of 6 learning hours

Purpose/scope

The purpose of this standard is for candidates to gain the skills required to set out or take surveys using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The content is relevant to all types of construction including earthworks, roads, houses, buildings, foundations, piles, structural steel, structures and reinforced concrete.

The scope covers:

  • all about Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS ) 
  • create a local coordinate system
  • potential sources of error 
  • accuracy
  • connecting with the GNSS rover
  • navigation
  • topographical survey
  • data management
  • on-board functionality
  • select the prism constant.

Occupational relevance

Training delivered against this standard would be relevant to the following occupational group(s):

  • operative and craft
  • supervision
  • management and leadership.

Candidate pre-requisites

There are no candidate pre-requisites as part of this standard. However, a working knowledge of 3D coordinate geometry and construction drawings would be beneficial.

Instruction/supervision

As a minimum, course instructors must be able to demonstrate that, in relation to this standard, they have:

  • a train the trainer or instructional techniques course certificate
  • a verifiable CV demonstrating extensive experience as a site engineer across a broad range of construction projects (civils, building etc.) and current experience/CPD in the use of modern topographical equipment 
  • a degree or equivalent qualification in Civil Engineering or Engineering Surveying or similar and have successfully completed training to this standard
  • at least 2 years relevant industrial experience.

Delivery

Delivery may be in an on or off the job environment.

All materials and equipment must be of a suitable quality and quantity for candidates to achieve learning outcomes, and must comply with relevant legislation.

The class size and candidate/instructor ratio must allow training to be delivered in a safe manner and enable candidates to achieve the learning outcomes. 

The following delivery methods shall be used in the delivery of this standard:

  • classroom 
  • outdoor space to support a range of relevant practical related tasks

This standard is considered to contain 51% or more practical training.

Assessment

For the successful completion of training, candidates must complete an end of course practical assessment or knowledge test that measures the learning outcomes and has a pass or fail criteria.

Quality assurance

Quality assurance against this standard will require initial approval of the training organisation and their content mapped to the standard. 

CITB will also conduct an approval intervention, either desk-based or centre visit, to ensure the training organisation can meet the requirements of the training standard. 

Approved training organisations (ATOs) will be required to present information on records of training and assessment upon request to CITB for desk based analysis. They will also be visited annually by the CITB quality assurance team.

Renewal/refresher

There are no mandatory renewal or recommended refreshment requirements for this standard.

Approval date

November 2018

Review cycle

Either on request or in 3 years from approval date.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes
The candidate will be able to: Additional guidance to support learning outcome
Use GNSS terminology  
Explain basic principles of GNSS technology
 
List situations where GNSS is appropriate and where it is not  
Carry out site calibration to create a local coordinate system  
List potential sources of error in GNSS  
List factors affecting accuracy  
Check and monitor levels of accuracy achieved  
Select correct scale factor for the task  
Enter data into controller manually  
Connect controller with GNSS rover  
Navigate around menus and programs  
Navigate stored information in list format and map view
View, edit, add and delete data  
Enter correct settings  
Select correct prism constant  
Take a topographical survey and record results systematically  
Set out points of known co-ordinates using the on-board functionality  
Set out points in relation to baseline using on-board functionality  
Set out points at given chainages and offsets along a radius  e.g. road centrelines using on-board functionality
Transfer large amounts of data from  controller to computer and vice versa  
Extract line data e.g. the horizontal distance and level difference between two points
Measure irregular areas and volumes such as stockpiles
Import and work with DXF and DTMs  
Create and export DXFs and DTMs  
Import and export data to and from Excel

Additional information

Training delivered against this standard would be relevant to the following occupational group(s):

  • Students studying Civil Engineering or Construction Management at any level
  • Graduate and trainee Engineers and Construction Managers who are required to use GNSS.