20/08/2025
DCPC exemptions…
There’s often a lot of confusion around when scaffolders & other trades who drive HGVs actually need a Driver CPC. The reality is you don’t always – but the exemption only applies in very specific circumstances.
If you’re driving a lorry with scaffold and tools that you’ll personally be using on site, and your main role is scaffolding rather than driving, then you can usually rely on the exemption. DVSA’s guidance talks about driving not being your “principal activity”, which in practice means less than 30% of your working time.
To put that into perspective: on a standard 40-hour week, 30% works out to 12 hours. So if you spend under 12 hours driving and the rest erecting or dismantling scaffold, you fall within the exemption. Once your driving hours push over that, you’ll need a Driver CPC.
The crucial part is being able to evidence it. If you’re stopped roadside, it’s not enough to say “I’m a scaffolder”. Timesheets, job sheets, and importantly your tachograph records all build the picture. For example, if your tacho shows 8 hours of driving in a week, and your timesheet shows 32 hours on the tools, that backs up the exemption.
Always evidence everything, and if in doubt… assume DCPC is required.
But please, don’t take it as a get out of jail card around training… you will never be under scrutiny for doing too much training, doing the bare minimum however is a different story!
