Scaffolding service
Scaffold design and loading calculations for non-standard structures
When the scaffold sits outside standard configuration, the drawing and the calculations come first — so the structure gets approved, built and signed off without a fortnight of argument.
Free site visit usually within 48 hours · Phone answered 24 hours · Design produced before anything is built
25 years
Curtis in the trade
19 people
Our own team
4.8 from 29
Google rating
12 weeks
Standard hire
Within 48 hours
Free site visit
Overview
What a designed scaffold is, and when you need one
Most scaffolds are built to a recognised standard configuration — an ordinary independent up the side of a house sits comfortably within it, and no drawing is required. A designed scaffold is what you need when the structure falls outside those limits, and that is more often than people expect.
A design package sets out the scaffold as a drawing with dimensions, bay lengths, lift heights, tie positions and bracing, alongside loading calculations showing that the structure can take the loads it will see: the operatives, the materials, the wind, and any additional load from sheeting, roofs, hoists or plant.
The trigger points are fairly consistent. Anything unusually high or unusually loaded. Anything bridging an obstruction on beams. Cantilevered, suspended or truss-out scaffolds. Temporary roofs over significant spans. Loading bays. Scaffolds carrying advertising banners or full sheeting on exposed sites. Structures on ground of doubtful bearing. Anything a principal contractor's temporary works coordinator asks to see paperwork for.
We provide designed scaffolds with loading calculations across all the work we do, from our yard in Iver, for sites throughout Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, Surrey, Middlesex and beyond. Curtis has twenty-five years in the trade and the design conversation starts on the same free site visit as the price.
What it costs to get wrong
What happens when this is left, rushed or under-specified
The cost of skipping the design is not the design fee — it is what happens when a structure that needed one turns out not to have had one.
Work stopped on site
A temporary works coordinator who asks for a design and does not get one stops the scaffold being used. Everything behind it queues while the paperwork is chased, and the delay is usually longer than the design would have taken.
A scaffold that cannot carry what is put on it
Loading bays, sheeting and temporary roofs all add load. When they are added to a scaffold designed for none of them, the tie pattern and the standards are working outside what anyone calculated.
Wind takes a sheeted structure
The most common serious scaffold failure in this country is a sheeted structure in high wind with an inadequate tie pattern. It is entirely predictable and entirely preventable at design stage.
Insurance and liability exposure
If something happens on a structure that should have been designed and was not, the question of who authorised it gets asked immediately, and the answer is expensive.
Rebuilds that were avoidable
Finding out after the erect that the scheme will not work means striking, redesigning and rebuilding. Doing the thinking first is always the cheaper order.
The mistakes we see most often
- Deciding to sheet a scaffold after it has been built to an unsheeted tie pattern.
- Adding a loading bay or hoist to a structure that was never calculated for one.
- Assuming a standard configuration applies because the scaffold looks ordinary from the street.
- Leaving the design request until the week the scaffold is due to go up.
- Changing the scaffold on site without telling anybody the design has been departed from.
Our process
How a job runs, start to finish
The same six steps on every job, whether it is one chimney or a phased commercial programme.
- 01
Call or send the details
Tell us the site address, what the scaffold is for and roughly when you need it. The phone is answered 24 hours a day.
- 02
Free site visit
Curtis, Andrew or one of the team comes out and measures up properly — usually within 48 hours of your enquiry.
- 03
Written quote, no obligation
You get a clear price for your job, based on what we saw on site rather than an average. No charge for the visit or the quote.
- 04
Agreed erect date
We book a date and we work to it. If a licence is needed for the footway, we flag that before the date is set.
- 05
Erected, checked and handed over
The scaffold goes up, gets checked, and your trades get on with the work. Standard hire period is 12 weeks.
- 06
Adaptations and dismantle
Need a lift added or a section moved? Call us. When the job is done we strike it on the agreed day and leave the site clean.
What you get
What you actually get from scaffold design and loading calculations done properly
Concrete outcomes, priced from your site and delivered on the dates we agree.
The structure is right before it is built
Bay lengths, lift heights, ties, bracing and foundations resolved on paper, where changing them costs nothing.
Paperwork the site can accept
Drawings and loading calculations that a temporary works coordinator, engineer or building control officer can review and sign off.
Load capacity you can rely on
The deck duty, the loading bay rating and the wind case are stated rather than assumed, so nobody has to guess what can be stacked where.
Fewer surprises during the build
Obstructions, tie points and ground conditions are dealt with in the design rather than improvised by the crew on the morning.
The designer and the builder are on the same job
The scheme is produced for a scaffold we are erecting with our own team, so nothing gets lost between a drawing and a wagon.
Starts with a free site visit
The survey that informs the design is the same free visit that produces your price — usually within 48 hours of your call.
In detail
What a scaffold design covers
A design package is not a picture of a scaffold. It is a set of decisions, each one with a load case behind it. These are the elements that make up a scheme.
Load classes and deck duty
Scaffolds are designed to a duty: inspection and very light work at one end, heavy masonry loading at the other. The duty sets the permitted load per square metre on each boarded lift and how many lifts can be loaded at once.
It has to match what the trade will actually do. A scaffold designed as light duty and then used to stack roof tiles is being used outside its design, and that is exactly the mismatch a stated duty prevents.
Wind loading, sheeting and netting
An open scaffold, a netted scaffold and a fully sheeted scaffold are three different structures as far as wind is concerned. Sheeting can multiply the wind load dramatically, and that drives the tie pattern more than anything else.
Site exposure matters too: an open coastal or hilltop site, or a scaffold above surrounding roof lines, sees far more wind than a sheltered terrace. Both go into the calculation.
Ties, anchorage and pull-out
Ties transfer load between scaffold and building, and their pattern comes out of the wind case and the height. The building has to be capable of taking them, which is why tie types are matched to the fabric and, where required, tested for pull-out resistance.
Old masonry, rendered walls, cladding, curtain walling and insulated facades all limit what can be tied into, and each of those needs an answer in the design rather than a decision on the day.
Foundations and ground bearing
Every load in the structure eventually arrives at the ground. Sole boards, spreaders, grillages and, where necessary, engineered bases distribute it to something that can carry it.
Made-up ground, recently backfilled trenches, basement lightwells, drain runs, podium decks and suspended slabs are all cases where the base needs designing rather than assuming — and where back propping below may be part of the answer.
Beamed and bridged scaffolds
Where standards cannot land — over an entrance, a driveway, a rail line, an extension roof — the scaffold is bridged on beams and needles spanning the obstruction.
Span, beam depth, the number of lifts carried above the bridge and the loads at each end all have to be calculated. It is one of the most common reasons a domestic-looking scaffold turns out to need a design.
Drawings, calculations and handover
The output is a marked-up drawing showing the scaffold as it will be built and calculations supporting the key elements, so the structure can be checked against the scheme once it is up.
Where the design changes on site because of something found during the erect, the change is agreed rather than improvised, and the paperwork reflects what was actually built.
Materials and methods we use
- Scaffold drawings showing bays, lifts, ties, bracing and foundations
- Loading calculations for the duty and load case required
- Wind loading assessment for open, netted and sheeted conditions
- Tie pattern design matched to the building fabric
- Foundation and load-spreading design, including grillages where needed
- Beam and needle design for bridged and cantilevered structures
- Temporary roof, loading bay and hoist support calculations
- Design amendments recorded where site conditions require a change
Domestic work
- Bridged scaffolds over conservatories, extensions and driveways
- Tall or exposed domestic scaffolds where wind loading matters
- Sheeted scaffolds on houses undergoing full external work
- Scaffolds on soft ground, over drains or beside basement lightwells
- Temporary roofs over domestic re-roofs with significant spans
- Clear paperwork where an insurer or building control asks for it
Commercial work
- Schemes for main contractors with temporary works procedures
- Loading bays, hoist ties and material handling structures
- Cantilevered, truss-out and suspended arrangements
- Scaffolds tied into cladding, curtain walling and insulated facades
- Large temporary roofs and long-span structures
- Coordination with structural engineers and temporary works coordinators
FAQs
Scaffold Design and Loading Calculations: common questions
Cost, timescales, hire periods and how the job actually runs.
How do I know if my scaffold needs a design?+
If it is bridged, cantilevered, suspended, unusually tall, fully sheeted on an exposed site, carrying a temporary roof, loading bay or hoist, or standing on ground of doubtful bearing, it almost certainly does. Tell us about the job and we will tell you straight at the free site visit.
How much does scaffold design cost?+
It depends on the complexity of the structure. It is quoted with the scaffold rather than as an open-ended fee, and both the site visit and the written quote are free.
How long does a design take?+
It depends on the scheme and how quickly we can get the survey information. It is one of the reasons to call early — a design requested the week before the erect is the one that delays the job.
Will your design satisfy our temporary works coordinator?+
The package is produced to be reviewed: drawings showing the scaffold as it will be built, with loading calculations behind the key elements. Tell us what your procedure requires and we will make sure the output matches it.
Can you design a scaffold somebody else is erecting?+
Our design work is produced for the scaffolds we build, so the scheme and the structure stay in step. Call us and tell us what you need and we will be straight with you about whether we are the right people for it.
What happens if the site conditions differ from the design?+
The change is agreed rather than improvised. If something on site means the scheme cannot be built as drawn, we resolve it and the paperwork reflects what was actually built.
Does sheeting really change the design that much?+
Yes. A fully sheeted scaffold catches far more wind than an open one, which usually means more ties and sometimes a heavier structure. Decide about sheeting before the design, not after the erect.
Do you handle the foundations as part of the design?+
Yes — sole boards, spreaders and grillages are part of the scheme, and where the scaffold stands on a suspended slab or made-up ground, that gets addressed too.
Is a designed scaffold slower to build?+
In practice it is usually faster, because the crew arrives knowing exactly what they are building and the problems have already been solved on paper.
Which areas do you cover?+
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, West Sussex and Wiltshire, from our yard at Seven Hills Farm in Iver.
If a temporary works coordinator has asked for drawings and calculations, or the structure you need is anything other than ordinary, call us early. The site visit is free and the sooner we see it, the sooner the scheme is done.
You can also send drawings and photographs through the contact form and we will come back to you.
Related services
Scaffolding Erection and Hire
Read moreShoring and Back Propping
Read moreSuspended / Hanging Scaffolds
Read moreTemporary Roofs
Read moreWhere we deliver this service
Scaffold Design and Loading Calculations is available across all ten counties we cover from our yard in Iver. You can also see every service we offer, read about ATC Scaffolding or send us the details of your job.
Next step
Get the scheme resolved before the wagon is loaded
Tell us what the scaffold has to do and what the site allows. We will come out free of charge, survey it properly and produce a design with loading calculations the site can sign off.
Phone answered 24 hours · Free quotes · 12-week standard hire period