# Anyone want some scaffolding?



## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

I have a problem with some possibly abandoned scaffolding.

Late last year I had the roof replaced on Pale Rider Towers, which in reality is a terraced house.

I dealt only with the roofer who said he would arrange for the scaffolding, front and back, via a sub-contractor.

The roofer quoted me an inclusive price.

The job was done to my satisfaction, and I paid the roofer.

The scaffolder returned after a week or so and removed the scaffolding at the front of the house.

I've not seen him since, meaning his scaffolding is still erected at the back of my house.

I've contacted the roofer three times, who each time said he will chase the scaffolder, but nothing has happened despite a couple of relayed promises.

There is no means currently for me to contact the scaffolder directly.

What do I do next?

The scaffolding is not causing any real inconvenience, and it looks solid enough.

But without getting all elf'n'safety about it, it's a temporary structure and should not be left in situ for any longer than it needs to be.

I'm tempted to find another scaffolder who would dismantle it in exchange for keeping it, but of course, it's not mine to give away.

Another point is the scaffolders were, er, robust gentlemen, typical of their ilk.

I would be to wise to think carefully before getting involved in a dispute with them.

Put another way, such a dispute could easily end in a prolonged wait for me in A&E.

Any ideas?


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## roadrash (11 Jan 2020)

have you not asked the roofer for the scaffolders contact details, then you can tell him how much he owes you for storing his scaffolding


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## Phaeton (11 Jan 2020)

Depending on where you are I can get it removed for you


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## Slick (11 Jan 2020)

*Typical of their ilk. *

cheers


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## Slick (11 Jan 2020)

Exactly how long has it been sitting for?


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## Slick (11 Jan 2020)

Remember the trades shut down for a full 2 weeks at least at Christmas.


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## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

It's been sitting for two months or so, although the roofing job wasn't finally finished until early December.

Trades shutting down is a point, although I formed the impression the scaffolders were casual, competent enough, but they didn't have a signwritten lorry or company overalls.

Local accents, so the chances are they are still knocking around somewhere.

I do suspect my back yard is being used by them for free scaffold storage.

If they get another job that needs it, I bet they will be around sharpish.

I could probably get a number for the scaffolders from the roofer, but I was rather hoping his leverage - future work for them - would be greater than mine.


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## Levo-Lon (11 Jan 2020)

Scaffolders lose so much tube over the year from theft they probably can't be bothered to collect if its a terrace and a bit of a ball ache to park and remove.

Edit 2months isnt unreasonable for a busy firm but kep pushing
Tell the builder you'll have to bill him for removal as you cant contact the firm.
He contracted the scaffold.
Also it has to be insured for everything even a burglar iirc
Give him a few weeks to sort it, he will move it himself if he cant find a solution


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## Slick (11 Jan 2020)

They are only now raising from their slumber during the festivities. 

More than likely, they will be round next week for it.

As an aside, plain trucks and no overalls are not always signs of casual labour.


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## Phaeton (11 Jan 2020)

Pale Rider said:


> I do suspect my back yard is being used by them for free scaffold storage.


So do I, but advise your roofer preferably in writing email will do that it is now causing an obstruction & you need it removed by the end of the month at the latest or you will be making arrangements to have it removed & he will be billed for the cost of dispersal.


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## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> Scaffolders lose so much tube over the year from theft they probably can't be bothered to collect if its a terrace and a bit of a ball ache to park and remove.
> 
> Edit 2months isnt unreasonable for a busy firm but kep pushing
> Tell the builder you'll have to bill him for removal as you cant contact the firm.
> ...



This makes much sense to my limited understanding of how scaffolders work.

Thanks.



Slick said:


> As an aside, plain trucks and no overalls are not always signs of casual labour.



Once again, that is informative.



Phaeton said:


> So do I, but advise your roofer preferably in writing email will do that it is now causing an obstruction & you need it removed by the end of the month at the latest or you will be making arrangements to have it removed & he will be billed for the cost of dispersal.



Sounds like a way forward.

I wouldn't have any realistic way of enforcing the bill if he refused to pay, so I would only go down that route if I was prepared, reluctantly, to swallow the financial pain.

I doubt it would take an hour to dismantle it, a hundred quid sounds reasonable to me.

Although that still leaves the problem of reuniting the scaffolding with its rightful owner.


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## glasgowcyclist (11 Jan 2020)

Could you get word to them that you came home yesterday and found two ne’er-do-wells starting to dismantle it and they legged it in a manky flatbed truck when challenged? Might focus their minds a bit.


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## Sharky (11 Jan 2020)

A team of builders attempted to climb Mount Everest, but stopped 6ft from the summit.

They ran out of scaffolding - they forgot they had left some at your house.


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## I like Skol (11 Jan 2020)

As you say, not yours to dispose of at this point.
As has also already been said, the way to go is to serve notice on your contractor giving him reasonable time to right the wrongs of HIS subcontractors.


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## classic33 (11 Jan 2020)

Could it legally be classed as abandoned, thereby making it yours to dispose off?

Failing that, get in touch with @fossyant, he might know someone who'll take it off your hands.


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## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

Thanks for the further replies.

Looks like a written request with notice period is the way forward.

Shame it's ending on a sour note.

The job went well up to this point.

I've seen enough horror stories in the courts to know what can go wrong with relatively major building work.

At least I got what I was promised for my few grand.

Many people don't.


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## Phaeton (11 Jan 2020)

It's not your roofers fault as such, other than trying to cut corners & a few extra £'s


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## Slick (11 Jan 2020)

It's always the responsibility of the PC despite the obvious absence of CDM.


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## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

Phaeton said:


> It's not your roofers fault as such, other than trying to cut corners & a few extra £'s



I agree.

Not sure there's any reason to think he tried to cut corners.

The scaffold erection was competently done.

I'm assuming the scaffolder has been paid, he seemed happy enough when he returned to dismantle the front.


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## slowmotion (11 Jan 2020)

Scaffolders like to use their last site as storage before removing their stuff directly to the next job. It's just how the smaller firms work. They tend to be fairly (ahem) "robust" people, both physically and mentally, so it's probably best not to antagonise them.


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## classic33 (11 Jan 2020)

Pale Rider said:


> I agree.
> 
> Not sure there's any reason to think he tried to cut corners.
> 
> ...


Maybe he thought the front was all there was.


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## Pale Rider (11 Jan 2020)

classic33 said:


> Maybe he thought the front was all there was.


He erected both sides, and I have had a couple of broken promises to say he is returning to remove what's at the back.


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## Phaeton (11 Jan 2020)

Pale Rider said:


> Not sure there's any reason to think he tried to cut corners.


Maybe not with the job, but possibly with his submission to HMRC


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## Beebo (12 Jan 2020)

Removing scaffolding for the rear of a terrace is a hassle. The jobs been paid so there is no money in it for him. 
He will collect it during a quiet period. He will always prioritise erecting rather than dismantling.


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## Drago (13 Jan 2020)

Send him a letter or email requesting it be removed by X date or you'll start charging him £25 a day storage from that date forward. That might prompt him to come and collect his rubbish. It might not, but you're then no worse off.


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## siadwell (13 Jan 2020)

slowmotion said:


> Scaffolders like to use their last site as storage before removing their stuff directly to the next job.



That ties in with my (limited) experience. Cheaper and easier to leave in situ that keep it in a yard.


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## Pale Rider (4 Mar 2020)

A resolution.

On my way out to buy a pint of milk I saw three scaffolders working on a nearby house.

I had a swift word with the foreman who put me on to his gaffer.

He grasped the situation, and said the lads would remove it provided there would be no comeback.

I commented that I didn't have anything other than his first name.

They finished 'throwing off' the scaffold at the job they were on, and were in my back lane within half an hour.

An hour later and the scaffolding was down and loaded on their wagon.

The foreman said it always takes a bit longer to take down somebody else's erection (@Fnaar) because each team erects in their own way.

While they were doing it, I checked when I paid for the roof, which was in early November.

Thus the scaffolding has been left for more than four months.

Time enough for me to fairly judge it's been abandoned.

Too late now anyway, what's gone is gone.

I gave the lads twenty quid because they couldn't have done a better or more timely job for me.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?


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## sheddy (4 Mar 2020)

Did you say the scaffold ?

View: https://youtu.be/CfOLcDY0Hd8


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## rakootageen (16 Jan 2021)

do you offer hire?


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## rakootageen (17 Jan 2021)

Do you offer to hire or sell your own scaffold tower because you don't need it anymore? I am building my house now and I would want to buy one. I am thinking of hiring a scaffold tower or buying one. I think it would be better to buy one because maybe I will need it in the future. I am now searching on the internet for them but all of them are too small or too big. The main thing is that I don't know how safe it is to work on such a tower, I have heard a lot of stories about how workers fell from that tower, I don't know is that because the construction is not safe o because the builders weren't attentive.


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## stephec (17 Jan 2021)

Pale Rider said:


> A resolution.
> 
> On my way out to buy a pint of milk I saw three scaffolders working on a nearby house.
> 
> ...


Did you send the roofer a message thanking him for removing it? 

Then when he comes back to you and says that they scaffolders haven't been round yet you can say, 'well it wasn't there when I got home just now.'


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## irw (17 Jan 2021)

rakootageen said:


> Do you offer to hire or sell your own scaffold tower because you don't need it anymore?


He doesn't have the scaffolding any more, as per post 27. And it wasn't his to sell or hire anyway!



rakootageen said:


> I am building my house now and I would want to buy one. I am thinking of hiring a scaffold tower or buying one. I think it would be better to buy one because maybe I will need it in the future. I am now searching on the internet for them but all of them are too small or too big.


There's a difference between the sort of scaffolding that @Pale Rider had up around his house, and a scaffold tower. Either way, scaffolding can be built to whatever size is required, and pretty much all 'scaffold towers' are made with modular sections, allowing anything from a few feet high to the maximum height specified by the manufacturer.
Scaffolding:





Scaffold Tower:







rakootageen said:


> The main thing is that I don't know how safe it is to work on such a tower, I have heard a lot of stories about how workers fell from that tower, I don't know is that because the construction is not safe o because the builders weren't attentive.


Scaffold towers are very safe, when erected and used correctly. I would suggest that if you have no previous experience/qualification in the use of scaffold or towers, you would fall into the 'unsafe' category, and should 'get a man person in' instead


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## keithmac (17 Jan 2021)

stephec said:


> Did you send the roofer a message thanking him for removing it?
> 
> Then when he comes back to you and says that they scaffolders haven't been round yet you can say, 'well it wasn't there when I got home just now.'



That's not a bad idea!.


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## stephec (17 Jan 2021)

keithmac said:


> That's not a bad idea!.


I have Baldrick levels of cunning.


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## classic33 (17 Jan 2021)

stephec said:


> I have Baldrick levels of cunning.


And many scaffolding companies have their own markings on the ends of the poles and boards. Easy apply, harder remove.


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## classic33 (17 Jan 2021)

irw said:


> He doesn't have the scaffolding any more, as per post 27. And it wasn't his to sell or hire anyway!
> 
> 
> There's a difference between the sort of scaffolding that @Pale Rider had up around his house, and a scaffold tower. Either way, scaffolding can be built to whatever size is required, and pretty much all 'scaffold towers' are made with modular sections, allowing anything from a few feet high to the maximum height specified by the manufacturer.
> ...


Shipping to the US would be a bit much though.


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## sheddy (17 Jan 2021)

Much missed 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpxlKV0fXR4


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## postman (19 Jan 2021)

So you have fallen for a scrap scam.😎.Three blokes knock on your door saying they have come for the scaffolding.They have the right looking lorry,so you let them have it,nothing wrong there.How were you to know.


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