What Your Scaffolding Company Needs to Know

Whether you’re in need of quality home renovations or a complex office extension, you’ll most likely need the help from an expert scaffolding company to support and aid any building workforce you hire. 

Before a scaffolding company might visit your site, they’ll need some initial information to provide an accurate quote and to see if your project is viable. From working out what equipment and inspections are needed to ensuring those who erect and dismantle scaffolding are fully trained and competent for the job at hand, there’s a lot of information that scaffolders require in advance to prioritise the equipment and safety of everyone at risk. 

So, whatever the commercial or domestic project they’re facilitating, it’s important that your scaffolding company knows as much about your project as possible before they start. But, what exactly do they need to know? In this blog, we discuss the potential questions a scaffolding company might ask you and what exactly you should provide in response.

What the project is

Firstly, and this might be an obvious one, scaffolding companies will need to know what sort of project it is that they will be potentially undertaking. With this information, they’ll be able to determine the type of scaffolding needed, how many staff they’ll need to take with them and roughly how long the project might take. There are many projects that could require scaffolding including:

●    Home or office renovations – whether it’s a loft conversion, fixing a roof or completing an extension, a home or office may or may not require the full scaffolding works, only on part of the property.

●    Window cleaning – the exterior aesthetic of your home or office can be important for resale or attracting new clients, and many properties have their windows cleaned. If this is the case, you’ll need scaffolding to help in this scenario, particularly for tall buildings.

●    Building maintenance – if your property is in need of a bit of TLC, you might hire relevant people to help counteract any dilapidation or destruction and to fix these problems. Along with this, you may need roof touch-ups, wall coating replacements or gutter cleaning, so a scaffolding service will help aid this maintenance work.

●    Restoration work – if you work in an older commercial building or live in a listed property, you may need specialist architectural restoration work to be carried out. In which case, you’ll definitely also need a considerate and expert scaffolding service to help.

How long it will take

Arguably, this links with the first point but is equally important. You might not have any clue exactly how long a project might take, but by providing your chosen scaffolding company of what exactly is involved in your project will help them work out an estimated time frame. 

As well as working out the rough amount of time of a project, this can also help determine what time of year would be best. For example, if you’re in need of a new, two storey extension for your home this could take a number of weeks so building work would prefer to take place outside of the rainy season. Determining this can also help scaffolding and construction companies work around yours and their diaries, organising a schedule that works around you. 

Finally, with the time frame and time of year in mind will come the first initial prices and rates for scaffolding services, giving you and your chosen company an idea of costs straight away.

Location

Of course, your scaffolding company will need to know the address the project will take place at, but, this piece of vital information will determine more than just simply the location. The location of the project will help prepare your scaffolding company for the sort of environment that they’re expected to erect, fix, inspect and dismantle scaffolding. 

For example, if you’re planning an extension that runs into your garden, you might have a lot of space to fit their machinery and a private place for scaffolders and builders to work in. But, they will need to consider what scaffolding to bring, as well as the structure itself, to ensure it is stable on soft grassy ground and doesn’t interfere with other surrounding houses. Alternatively, you might need a scaffolding company to clean the windows of your office block or shop units. In this circumstance, they may need to make specific requirements or provisions for a pedestrian walkway and time of day they should work e.g. avoiding busy periods or start/end of the day. 

All these things will need to be taken into consideration when planning what scaffolding you need, so it’s important to fill in your chosen company with as much information as possible or you could aim to send them pictures of your location too.

How high

This one might be the most essential bit of information a scaffolding company needs to ensure the health and safety of their staff and you. From offices to homes, chances are the structures are at least two storeys high, and a fall from a height could seriously injure or even kill someone. 

Once they know where the work needs doing and at what height, a scaffolding company will be able to ascertain the amount of equipment and parts to take along, because the height and length dimensions may affect the whole structure. As well as this, they’ll be able to work out how many inspections might need to take place, ensure they stay within the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and ensure that all staff are fully trained and qualified for the job at hand. Finally, they’ll be able to determine the working loads imposed and the maximum number of people using the scaffold at one time as well as the type of access needed for the height e.g. staircases or extended ladders.

Access for scaffold towers and scaffolding transport

Along with location, a scaffolding company will need to know what sort of access there is to the property or the area of the property that requires work. From trucks for transporting scaffolding to scaffolding towers, you’ll need to provide details on space and environment. Consider whether you’ll be able to make space for the work too and inform the company whether you could or not. Scaffolding requires attention to detail and the potential need for equipment to help erect scaffold towers such as genie lifts. A scaffolding company may also need to consider whether scissor lift hire is necessary for the job, so consider whether they’ll be room and access for all these extras.

Hi Point Access – contact us today for more information regarding our scaffolding services and affordable scaffolding hire prices

Once our scaffolding company at Hi Point Access have all this information, we are able to design a bespoke scaffolding structure for your project to ensure adequate strength and stability along with prioritising safety. As an independent and expert scaffolding company, we provide high-quality workmanship and can design a scaffolding structure, whether it’s traditional, lightweight, indoor or mobile scaffolding.  For more information regarding our scaffolding services or our advanced training courses for those trying to better themselves in a scaffolding or construction career, contact one of our offices in Barnsley, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Rotherham or Sheffield today or, alternatively, give us a call on 0114 257 7600.