The Site Foreman's Path to Registered Contractor
Turn a lifetime of site skill into a real contracting business: register the company, certify yourself, learn to estimate and win work honestly, and master the cash flow — without joining the collapse record or the abandoned-project graveyard.
by Sankofa Skills Studio · vetted expert author
What you'll gain
A skilled foreman and a registered contractor are two different things — one is a person with skill, the other is a compliant business that can lawfully be paid. Form the CAC limited company, certify your own hands (NSQ Level 4), and engage the registered professionals — COREN, CORBON — for the structural sign-off you cannot legally give. Then master the skills that actually keep you alive: estimate from the ground up (labour + materials + plant + overhead + contingency + profit), know that margin is not markup and that under-pricing to win is the fastest way to fail. Build the compliance pack (TCC, PENCOM, ITF, NSITF) and register on BPP for the IRR; understand that the mobilization advance is NOT profit and that working capital, not the contract value, keeps you solvent. And never cross the bright lines that fill the collapse record — Ikoyi built 21 floors on a 15-floor approval, a Jos school fell with no bond between concrete and steel. Build to the approval, with genuine materials, priced to complete.
Pass a real exam and earn a publicly verifiable certificate employers trust.
Unlimited practice mode + spaced-repetition flashcards, then unlimited exam retakes.
Keep the lessons and every future update to this course, forever.
What you'll cover
10 modules · 12 lessons · timed certification exam
1. Orientation — tradesman, contractor, and two truths 2 lessons
Why being a skilled foreman and being a registered contractor are two different things, and the two hard truths — business skill and building to the code — that decide whether you survive.
- Skill versus a compliant business · 18 min
- Two hard truths · 16 min
2. The legal entity and your own certification 1 lessons
Registering the company that can lawfully be paid, and certifying your own hard-won competence — while knowing what neither of them lets you do.
- The CAC company and your NSQ · 18 min
3. The professional councils 1 lessons
The statutory bodies that register the building professions, what each one gates, and how a contracting company works with them without the owner holding every licence.
- Who gates what · 16 min
4. Register to win government work 2 lessons
Getting onto the federal contractors’ database and generating the report the ministries demand, and assembling the compliance pack that keeps a bid alive.
- BPP registration and the IRR · 16 min
- The compliance pack · 16 min
5. Estimating — the make-or-break skill 1 lessons
How a contractor prices work from the ground up, why margin is not markup, and why under-pricing to win is the fastest way to fail.
- Quantity take-off and the rate build-up · 20 min
6. Winning work — the honest ladder 1 lessons
How bids are really judged, why the lowest price does not simply win, and the realistic ladder a new contractor climbs from subcontracting upward.
- Tendering and where to start · 18 min
7. The money — how contractors get paid, and go broke 1 lessons
The mobilization advance that is not profit, the retention that is held back, and the cash-flow squeeze that kills more contractors than bad building ever does.
- Mobilization, retention and the cash squeeze · 20 min
8. The collapse and abandonment museum 1 lessons
A dated, sourced record of what corner-cutting produces — collapsed buildings, abandoned projects and prosecuted fraud — and the lessons each one teaches a new contractor.
- What corner-cutting produces · 20 min
9. Ethics and the bright lines 1 lessons
The eight non-negotiable rules that keep a contractor off the collapse record — and the registration scams that target aspiring contractors.
- The bright lines · 16 min
10. Your action plan 1 lessons
A phased path from a skilled foreman to a registered, solvent contractor who builds safely and gets paid.
- The phased path · 14 min
Frequently asked
Is the certificate verifiable?
Yes. Every certificate carries a unique ID and a cryptographic signature. Anyone — an employer or a client — can confirm it instantly on our public verification page, with no login.
Who teaches this course?
A vetted expert author — Sankofa Skills Studio. Every expert course is reviewed and fact-checked before publication, and the author earns a revenue share on your enrolment.
How long do I have access?
Lifetime. Once you enrol you keep access to the lessons, practice mode and flashcards — including future updates to this course.
What happens if I don't pass the exam first time?
You can retake it — up to 5 attempts, with a 12-hour wait between attempts. Practice mode is unlimited, so rehearse with the same verified question bank until you're ready.
Can my team enrol together?
Yes. Talk to us about group and organisation rates — certifying a whole team is faster and cheaper than one at a time.
Continue your path
Learners taking this course often go on to: