Scaffolding inspection as an extra charge

snowdome · 6 July 2017 at 3:47PM

I would like to share a recent experience with a loft conversion.

Towards the end of the loft conversion I was asked by the company to pay a "scaffolding inspection" charge - just over £400.

I was surprised by the charge and started digging into it - I never saw anybody inspecting it. I found out that there needs to be weekly inspections and that a record of the inspection must be kept on-site. The record is usually kept on tags attached the scaffold (search scaffold inspection tags on google). I did not see these tags on my scaffold. I refused to pay the inspection fee until such time that they can provide proof of the inspections. After some time I received an email that stated that there was a mixup in arranging the inspection and mine was never inspected.

I give the loft company the benefit of the doubt that this was an honest mistake, but still not nice to know that I might have been out of pocket if I did not do a fair amount of digging and follow up.

Lesson learnt - always ask for evidence of the scaffolding inspection. Records should be kept on site.

See HSE website on scaffold inspection for more information on the topic.
- Inspections should be done before the scaffold is used.
- Inspections should be done weekly.
- Inspection should be done after a period of extreme weather (high winds).
- All inspections should be recorded.

System · 6 July 2017 at 3:57PM

If you tender a project correctly and use a standard form of contract, things like this form part of the prelims charged by builders.
Previously cdm on domestic projects was "neglected" to say the least and still is to some extent (a lot of small contractors and tradesmen don't understand the changes to cdm for domestic projects) although ultimately you should have had a "prinicpal designer" for your project who advises you of the responsibility for on site health and safety during the contract period...

Kiran · 6 July 2017 at 9:07PM

Scaff tags are not a legal requirement, the inspection however must be recorded as you say. This record should be available for inspection. I would suggest that unless it was specifically excluded on the quote then scaffold should include all statutory inspections.

teneighty · 7 July 2017 at 8:51AM

How could this possibly have been a legitimate extra charge?

The building contractor can only claim extras for items that were unforeseen/hidden at the time they prepared their quote.

Scaffolding and any associated costs would therefore not apply. For a simple domestic job it is usually the building contractor himself who undertakes the weekly inspection, it takes about 10 minutes so how they came up with £400 is anybodies guess.

Sounds like a scam to me.

Furts · 7 July 2017 at 9:32AM

teneighty wrote: »

How could this possibly have been a legitimate extra charge?

The building contractor can only claim extras for items that were unforeseen/hidden at the time they prepared their quote.

Scaffolding and any associated costs would therefore not apply. For a simple domestic job it is usually the building contractor himself who undertakes the weekly inspection, it takes about 10 minutes so how they came up with £400 is anybodies guess.

Sounds like a scam to me.

I work with a contractor who is paying each week for scaffold inspections. The inspections were not in the quoted scaffold costs. It all comes down to qualifications and competence in our safety era. Nobody within the contractor's business has the necessary qualifications to inspect the scaffold so this is paid for from others - in this case the scaffolding company. They inspect their own scaffold and charge x per week for doing so.

teneighty · 7 July 2017 at 10:22AM

Furts wrote: »

I work with a contractor who is paying each week for scaffold inspections. The inspections were not in the quoted scaffold costs. It all comes down to qualifications and competence in our safety era. Nobody within the contractor's business has the necessary qualifications to inspect the scaffold so this is paid for from others - in this case the scaffolding company. They inspect their own scaffold and charge x per week for doing so.

The person doing the inspection just has to be competent, that can be deemed by experience, you do not need a formal qualification. On a domestic scaffold it is very mickey mouse...has the scaffold been damaged, is the ladder tied etc. etc.

Either way it is not an unforeseen cost and not a legitimate extra. If the builder forgot to include it in his quote that is his problem, not the customers.

Welshbigman · 1 August 2017 at 2:11PM

Scaffold inspections are required after first errection, at a maximum of every 7 days or after adverse weather.

A competent contractor would know these are required. Some of my clients request the Scaffolding company carry out these others request that I carry these out.

You should not however be hit with an extra charge for these

Scaffolding inspection as an extra charge

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