NATE's Rigging Training Standard (RTS) is a recommended training curriculum for employers — not an exam, and not a certification NATE issues. First published in 2024, it lays out the minimum topics a worker doing rigging on a communications structure should be trained on, built around ANSI/ASSP A10.48-2023. Completing RTS-based training does not certify anyone as "authorized," "competent," or "qualified" — NATE's own standard says that determination belongs to the employer, based on documented evaluation.
That last point is the one employers get wrong most often, so it's worth stating plainly up front: this article describes RTS; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by NATE, and nothing here is a NATE certification.
What NATE actually is
NATE — now formally "The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association," having grown out of the National Association of Tower Erectors — is a nonprofit trade association representing roughly 1,000 member companies across tower, broadband, and communications infrastructure work. It is not a regulator and does not issue government-recognized credentials. RTS is a training standard: a syllabus, not a test.
The five parts of RTS
RTS organizes rigging training into five parts covering eleven topic areas.
- Part 1 — General Training: an introduction and registration process, then the policies, standards, and regulations a rigger needs to know — OSHA 1926, ANSI/ASSP A10.48-2023, ANSI/TIA-322, and the ASME B30 series — plus the types of communication structures and the rigging hazards specific to each.
- Part 2 — Construction Plans: how the minimum required plan class is identified for a given scope of work, who the plan's stakeholders are, and the difference between operational and non-operational construction loads (wind limits, by default 30 mph while actively rigging and 50 mph when the load is secured, unless the plan itself sets different figures).
- Part 3 — Equipment: Selection, Use and Maintenance: rigging hardware (shackles, slings, hooks, come-alongs, blocks, eye bolts), synthetic rope, and wire rope — each covering working load limits, inspection, documented rope logs, and correct end terminations.
- Part 4 — Lifting Configurations: the standard lifting configurations used on a tower, load and proof testing procedures, and communication requirements during a lift — including a hand-signal table specific to material rigging (more on why that matters below).
- Part 5 — Evaluation: a written exam covering all prior topics plus a documented, hands-on practical demonstration — pre-lift inspection, component selection, assembly per the plan, and a proof-testing walkthrough.
Who signs the plan: six roles, not rigger "levels"
A common mix-up: RTS does not define "Rigger I" or "Rigger II" levels — that terminology belongs to NCCCO's rigger certifications and has nothing to do with RTS. What RTS defines instead are the stakeholders on a construction plan: the Competent Rigger, the Qualified Person, the Engineer of Record, the Qualified Engineer, the Supervising Engineer, and the Owner/Client. Which of those six roles has to sign off depends on the plan's classification — the more complex or higher-risk the lift, the more of those roles get involved. We cover how plan classes work in ANSI A10.48-2023 rigging plan classes explained.
What RTS deliberately leaves out
RTS is explicit about its own limits. It does not cover gin poles, external hoisting devices like cranes, helicopters, or MEWPs, capstan hoist operator training, base-mounted hoist operator training, or rescue/rope-access rigging. If your crew touches any of those, you need separate training for them — RTS was never meant to be the whole rigging curriculum, just the material-handling core of it.
Completing RTS-based training does not certify anyone as authorized, competent, or qualified — that determination belongs to the employer, based on documented evaluation.
What a document-compliant employer program needs
If you're building a training program around RTS, three things separate "we covered it once" from something that survives an audit:
Recommended certification
Basic Rigging Principles on Communication Structures
$95 · ~4.5h online · certificate issued same day · valid 2 years
Also read: How to Build a Rigging Training Program for Your Tower Crew · Rigging on Antenna Mounts: When It's Allowed
Building it without starting from zero
Putting an RTS-aligned program together from scratch means three courses, two evaluation forms, and a records system most employers don't have sitting around. Our Tower Rigging Training Program Kit bundles three courses per worker with the program summary, training record, evaluation checklist, and pre-lift sign-in sheet generated from your roster — built around NATE RTS and ANSI/ASSP A10.48, but it is not a NATE certification and not NATE-affiliated. For crews building or checking a specific lift plan, our Rigging Calc tool walks the same load-and-plan-class logic RTS teaches.
For the step-by-step version of assembling a program, see how to build a rigging training program for your tower crew.
How RTS training relates to NWSA certification
Employers sometimes assume RTS-based rigging training and NWSA's TTT-1/TTT-2 certifications are competing or overlapping requirements. They aren't — they're complementary, from two different kinds of organization entirely. TTT-1 and TTT-2 each dedicate one of five exam domains to "Hoisting Equipment and Rigging," which tests whether an individual technician understands rigging fundamentals well enough to pass a proctored, portable exam. RTS is a deeper, employer-run training curriculum specifically on rigging — hardware, rope, lifting configurations, and the construction plan process — that produces documented, in-house training records rather than a third-party credential. A crew can and often should have both: TTT-1/TTT-2-certified technicians who have also completed RTS-aligned rigging training through their employer. Neither substitutes for the other. For how NWSA and NATE relate more broadly, see NWSA vs NATE: what's the difference?
What "employer" means in practice
RTS puts the training obligation on the employer, which raises an obvious question for smaller shops: does that mean building everything in-house from a blank page? Not necessarily. The standard doesn't require you to write your own curriculum from scratch — it requires that the training your workers receive, however it's sourced, covers the required topics and gets documented with real evaluation records under your company's name as the provider. Using a structured course to deliver the knowledge portion, then running your own documented practical evaluation on top of it, satisfies that requirement without needing a dedicated training department.
Frequently asked questions
Does passing RTS training make someone a certified rigger?
No. RTS explicitly states that completing the training does not certify a worker as authorized, competent, or qualified. That designation is the employer's call, based on documented evaluation — RTS gives the syllabus, not the credential.
Is RTS the same as an NCCCO rigger certification?
No. NCCCO issues third-party rigger certifications with its own levels and exams. RTS is a NATE training standard with no equivalent "level" system — the roles it defines (Competent Rigger, Qualified Person, etc.) are construction-plan stakeholders, not certification tiers.
Does RTS cover crane rigging?
No. RTS explicitly excludes external hoisting devices, including cranes. Crane work needs separate training and, for signaling, a different hand-signal set than the one RTS teaches for structure rigging — see A10.48 rigging hand signals vs. OSHA crane signals.
Who publishes RTS and where do I get the official document?
NATE publishes and owns RTS. Contact NATE directly through natehome.com for the current official document and membership terms — we paraphrase its structure here for employer education, not as a substitute for the source.
Sources
- NATE Rigging Training Standard, 2024 revision — structure and scope described from a direct read; contact NATE at natehome.com for the official document
- ANSI/ASSP A10.48 — order information
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926