Scaffolding service
Solar panel scaffolding for installers across Slough, London and the Thames Valley
Access up and ready on the morning your PV team is booked, so the install happens on the date the customer was promised instead of being rescheduled.
Free site visit usually within 48 hours · Phone answered 24 hours · 4.8 from 29 Google reviews
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 solar scaffolding involves
Solar scaffolding is access built specifically around a PV installation: edge protection to the roof being worked on, a working platform at the right height relative to the eaves, and a safe route for panels, rails and inverters to get onto the roof and for the installers to work all day without leaning off a ladder.
It looks like ordinary roof access, and it is not. A solar install is a short, tightly scheduled visit by a specialist team, usually one or two days on a domestic roof. The access has to be complete and correct before they arrive and it has to come down promptly afterwards, because the installer's next job is already booked and the customer wants their driveway back.
The other difference is the panels themselves. They are large, awkward, fragile and heavy enough that handling them off a ladder is not an option. The scaffold has to give the crew somewhere to land them, somewhere to stand while they lift them onto the rails, and a working height that lets them reach the row above without over-stretching.
We work with solar installers and with homeowners and commercial clients organising their own installs, across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, Surrey, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire, from our yard at Seven Hills Farm in Iver. Curtis has twenty-five years in the trade and there are nineteen people on the team, which is what makes short-notice, date-critical work possible.
What it costs to get wrong
What happens when this is left, rushed or under-specified
On solar work, the scaffold is rarely the biggest cost and is very often the thing that decides whether the install happens on the day.
The install gets cancelled and rebooked
A PV crew that arrives to no scaffold does not wait — they leave. The customer is rescheduled by weeks, the installer loses a crew day, and everybody remembers why.
Panels handled off ladders
Trying to get a full-size module up a ladder is how panels get cracked and people get hurt. Damaged modules mean a return visit and an argument about who pays.
No edge protection on a working roof
Solar installs involve hours of work near the eaves. Without proper edge protection that is a fall risk for the whole visit, and it is the first thing anyone would look at afterwards.
Scaffold left standing after the install
Access that stays up for weeks after the panels are on annoys the customer, blocks the drive and reflects on the installer. Striking promptly is part of the job, not an afterthought.
The roof turns out to need work first
Old or failing coverings are often found on the survey. Better to know at the scaffold visit, when a re-roof can be planned on the same access, than after the panels are already booked.
The mistakes we see most often
- Booking the installer before booking the access, then trying to fit the scaffold into a two-day window.
- Setting the working lift level with the eaves instead of below it, leaving nowhere to stand and land panels.
- Forgetting the inverter position, which often needs separate access at a different elevation.
- Assuming access to just one elevation when the array is split across two roof planes.
- Not mentioning conservatories, extensions or a driveway that has to stay usable.
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 solar panel installation scaffolding done properly
Concrete outcomes, priced from your site and delivered on the dates we agree.
Up before the installer arrives
We work to the erect date we agreed, which is what keeps a booked install a booked install. Doing what we say we will do is the thing our Google reviews mention most.
Set at the right height for handling panels
The working lift is positioned so the crew can land modules and lift them onto the rails without over-reaching or working above shoulder height.
Edge protection for the whole visit
Guard rails and toe boards to the working lift so the crew can concentrate on the install rather than on where the edge is.
Struck promptly when the panels are on
We take it down on the agreed day and leave the site clean, so the customer gets their drive and garden back straight away.
Repeat work handled the same way every time
Installers who use us regularly get the same process on every job: visit, written price, agreed date, erect, strike.
Free site visit and written price
Usually within 48 hours of your call, priced from the actual roof rather than from a postcode and a panel count.
In detail
Solar access in detail
Roof type, array position, ground conditions and the installer's method all change what the access has to be. These are the situations we deal with most.
Pitched domestic roofs
The standard arrangement is an independent scaffold to the elevation carrying the array, boarded out just below the eaves so the crew work up the roof plane rather than down onto it, with guard rails, toe boards and ladder access.
Where the array spans front and rear, or wraps a hip, that means access to more than one elevation. It is worth being clear about the array layout at the survey, because it changes the price and the erect time significantly.
Landing and handling panels
Modules are large and heavy enough that they need somewhere to be set down safely at working level. On larger arrays that means a wider boarded lift or a small loading area rather than a standard working platform.
Where a hoist or a mechanical lift is being used to get panels up, the scaffold has to accommodate it, and that is a design decision rather than an on-the-day adjustment.
Flat roofs and ballasted arrays
Flat roof installations usually need perimeter edge protection rather than a full working scaffold, plus a safe means of getting people and ballast onto the roof.
On commercial flat roofs that often combines edge protection with a staircase tower or a hoist, especially where ballast trays are being carried up in quantity.
Commercial, industrial and agricultural roofs
Larger arrays on warehouse, factory and farm buildings mean longer elevations, higher eaves and often fragile roof coverings that cannot be walked on.
These jobs need planning around the roof type, the working method and the site's own rules, and they usually run over weeks rather than days — so the hire period and the phasing matter as much as the structure.
Inverters, cable runs and secondary access
The panels are only part of the install. Inverters, isolators and cable runs frequently need access at a different point of the building — a gable, a garage wall, a plant area.
Picking that up at the survey avoids the classic mid-install phone call asking for a small tower at the other end of the house on the same day.
Ground conditions and site constraints
Solar jobs are mostly on occupied homes, which means driveways, patios, borders, conservatories, boundary fences and neighbours. Base positions and load spreading have to work with all of that.
Where the scaffold has to bridge a conservatory or extension roof, it is beamed over on needles — and that is one of the cases where a designed scaffold with loading calculations is the right approach.
Materials and methods we use
- Independent access scaffold with edge protection to the working roof
- Working lift set below eaves for safe panel handling
- Wider boarded areas or loading positions for module landing
- Ladder access, or staircase towers on larger commercial arrays
- Perimeter edge protection systems for flat roof arrays
- Beamed and bridged sections over conservatories and extensions
- Secondary access to inverter, isolator and cable run positions
- Designed schemes with loading calculations where the structure requires it
Domestic work
- Pitched roof arrays on houses, bungalows and garages
- Access to more than one elevation where the array is split
- Bridging over conservatories, extensions and side returns
- Working around driveways, patios and boundaries
- Prompt strike once the install is signed off
- Free site visit and a clear written price before anything is booked
Commercial work
- Large arrays on warehouse, industrial and agricultural roofs
- Flat roof edge protection and ballast handling access
- Staircase towers and loading provision for volume installs
- Phased access across long elevations and multiple buildings
- Coordination with the installer's programme and site rules
- Twelve-week standard hire with longer periods agreed upfront
FAQs
Solar Panel Installation Scaffolding: common questions
Cost, timescales, hire periods and how the job actually runs.
How much does scaffolding for solar panels cost?+
It depends on the roof height, how many elevations the array covers, the ground around the property and whether anything has to be bridged. We come out, look at the roof and give you a free written price, usually within 48 hours of your call.
How far in advance should I book?+
As early as you have an install date. The whole point is that the access is up before the PV crew arrives, and that is much easier to guarantee with notice than with two days' warning.
How long does the scaffold need to stay up?+
For a domestic install, usually only days — the panels go on quickly once the access is there. Our standard hire period is twelve weeks, so a short install sits comfortably inside it.
Do you take it down straight after the install?+
Yes, on the agreed day. Prompt strikes matter to installers and to homeowners, and we plan them in rather than leaving the structure standing.
Do you work directly with solar installation companies?+
Regularly. Installers use us because the erect date holds, which is what protects their booked diary.
Do I need access to both sides of the roof?+
Only if the array is on both roof planes. Tell us the layout at the survey and we will price exactly what the install needs and nothing more.
Can you scaffold over a conservatory or extension?+
Yes, by bridging the obstruction on beams and needles. That usually falls outside standard configuration, so it comes with a design and loading calculations.
What about scaffolding for a battery or inverter position?+
If the inverter is somewhere that needs access, we will include it. It is much cheaper as part of the original erect than as a call-out midway through the install.
Which areas do you cover for solar scaffolding?+
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, London, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, West Sussex and Wiltshire, all from our yard in Iver just off the M4 at Junction 5.
How do I pay?+
By bank transfer, with details on the invoice. Site visits and quotes are free.
If you have a solar install booked, or a diary full of them, call us with the addresses and the dates. We will get out for a free visit and give you prices you can plan against.
Installers with regular work: tell us how your scheduling runs and we will fit our process around it.
Related services
Scaffolding Erection and Hire
Read moreTemporary Roofs
Read moreNew Build Development Scaffolding
Read moreScaffold Design and Loading Calculations
Read moreWhere we deliver this service
Solar Panel Installation Scaffolding 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
Access ready on the morning your installers arrive
Send us the address, the roof and the install date. We will come out free of charge, price the access properly and hold the date we agree.
Phone answered 24 hours · Free quotes · 12-week standard hire period