Does this need scaffold?

Joined
19 Mar 2012
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
London
Country
United Kingdom
If the owner wished to paint this, would they be legally okay on ladders, or would H&S require scaffold?

Should the owner employ someone to paint the exterior, would it legally demand scaffold?
The porch outside the door, and the (not clear) eare in front of the windows where the pots are is very flat and stable, and would make a good footing for ladders, or scaffold.

The owner does not have a great deal of money to throw at scaffold, so is considering options. It's not clear in the picture but although the paintwork is in good condition, it's just very grubby and dowdy now.

UV2dAsI.jpg
 
Sponsored Links
H&S only require you to do a measured assesment of the risks, so if you feel you can work off ladders safely, then that is considered okay, but the steps make putting a ladder up safely difficult - unless you were to bed a few bolts in the wall to tie the ladders to - so scaffolding may be the sensible option here.
 
A scaffold tower might make sense if confident about rigging it
 
I think they say scaffolding is definitely required if you are working above gutter height, ie pine ends. The bottom line is though, you must have a safe working environment. If the painter says it needs scaffold and you say do it off ladders, then you are liable if an accident occurs as far as I'm aware.
 
Sponsored Links
There isn't any body of people that can make you use scaffold if you don't want too. Sensible way of doing the job is obviously on a scaffold. Generally customers don't want to fork out the extra money and don't realise that they will get a much better job at the end. If your hanging off a big ladder you may miss parts of the timber which will fail later.
 
There isn't any body of people that can make you use scaffold if you don't want too

Totally correct Robbie,and that's what most people don't realise, they just assume that H&S won'tlet you do anything whatsoever.. But H&S only get involved when someone gets hurt, although I'm not sure if they are petty enough to do you, but they would if your ladder fell over and hurt someone else.
 
From the tradesman's point of view it is all about insurance. If your ladder comes down and damages someone/something, the first thing your public liability insurers will say is you should have used scaffold and you suddenly find that they won't pay out. Be aware of this and check with your PLI policy.
 
If the Owner chose to do the work themselves they could use whatever they wanted, if they fell off the ladder it would be their problem .
However getting a decorator to do the job would be different, the decorator would have to comply with their Public liability Insurance, as technically due to the wall and stairs, to paint the front with a ladder is above safety limits.
Should the Decorator chose to use a ladder and fall off, the House Owner would be taken to Court as they did not ensure that the person employed to do work for them did not have the right safety equipment for the job.
 
You are looking at £300 (cash?) for scaffolding.

That equates to approximately 2 days in labour costs (depending on where you live).

When it comes to painting the fascia boards, the scaffolding might well work out cheaper than working off a ladder. That said the windows look like uPVC so there is less need for scaffolding.

Erm, sorry I am not helping much am I? If you had wooden windows, I would say defo go for scaffolding. If i were quoting I'd probably use a ladder.
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top