Surveying and setting out

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Total station for construction

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 1^st 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

Last updated: 17 June 2019
Grant rate/tier: £140 (Tier 2)
Grant code: GET2178

Overview

This standard covers the principles of using a Total Station for site surveying and setting out. These principles can be applied to all types of construction including earthworks, roads, houses, buildings, foundations, piles, structural steel, structures and reinforced concrete.

Find a course for this standard

Duration

Minimum 3 days of 6 learning hours per day.

Purpose/scope

This purpose of this standard is to cover the principles of using a Total Station for site surveying and setting out. These principles can be applied to all types of construction including earthworks, roads, houses, buildings, foundations, piles, structural steel, structures and reinforced concrete.

The scope covers:

set up
calibration checks
possible errors
topographical surveys
installing primary and secondary control points
using different functions
different methods for plumbing columns and walls
data management and transfer
capabilities and limitations

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, candidates are expected to be familiar with basic and co-ordinate geometry, basic angles and trigonometry, basic mathematical theory e.g. Pythagoras and Euclidian Geometry.

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
successfully completed training to this standard
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 relevant Civil Engineering degree or equivalent.

Delivery

Delivery may be in an on or off the job environment with outdoor space to support a range of relevant practical related tasks.

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 not be used in the delivery of this standard:

E-learning

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
Set up a Total Station over a point
Carry out relevant calibration checks	e.g. horizontal and vertical collimation error, trunnion axis, prism constant, optical/ laser plummet, diaphragm orientation.
List possible sources of error when using a Total Station
Use techniques for improving and checking accuracy and precision
View, edit, add and delete data
Install network of primary control points	from scratch (traverse)
Install accurate secondary control points (retro targets) using correct procedure
Create local coordinate system for a building on gridlines
Use correct procedures for measuring and setting out reduced levels with the Total Station
Describe a range of methods for plumbing columns and walls
Set-up position and orientation of the Total Station using resection or by setting up over a known point and referencing another known point.
Take a topographical survey and record results systematically
Measure horizontal distance and level differences between points using tie-distance function
Set out points of known co-ordinates using stake out function
Set out points in relation to a baseline using reference line function
Set out points at given chainages and offsets along a radius	e.g. road centrelines using the reference arc function
Measure irregular areas and volumes
Transfer large amounts of data between the Total Station and a computer
Describe capabilities and limitations of GNSS equipment
Describe capabilities of Robotic Total Stations

Additional information