Scaffolding calculator in feet and inches

How you calculate the scaffold

1. Choose the system: pick the frame or system scaffold you build with; its bay lengths and frame widths follow.
2. Enter the wall in feet: type the length and height as 40', 40 ft or 12' 6".
3. Mark a gable: tick «Gable wall» and give the ridge height if the wall rises to a ridge.
4. Read the result: the bays, lifts, decked levels and scaffold area in ft² for that wall.
5. Plan the building: in the ScaFix app, set the units to Imperial, connect the walls at corners and open the full parts list and the 3D model.

Worked example: a 40' × 20' wall with Bil-Jax Ring Lock

One straight 40' × 20' wall with Bil-Jax Ring Lock, entered in feet and calculated by the ScaFix engine with the unit system set to Imperial: the same engine and parts list as the app, on level ground with «Platform to roof» and «Bottom decks» off. Corners, returns and stairs change the count. ScaFix is a planning aid, not a structural calculation or an approval of the scaffold.

Wall (length × height)

40' × 20'

System

Bil-Jax Ring Lock

Bays

4 (4 × 10')

Scaffold width

2'-4 1/2"

Decks at

8'-6 1/2" and 15'-1"

Top deck

15'-1"

Access

Ladder through the decks

Scaffold area

735 ft²

Parts in all

≈146 (estimate)

Which parts does a 40' × 20' wall need?

Every row of the engine's parts list for this wall, lengths as the app prints them in Imperial (nearest ½"). The Bil-Jax Ring Lock wall-tie rule in ScaFix is not yet checked against the manufacturer's manual, so the tie rows are estimates («≈»): check them against the manufacturer's instructions.

Which measurements can I type?

The calculator reads lengths with the same parser as the ScaFix app's Imperial setting:

• Feet with a foot mark or the word: 40', 40 ft, 40 feet, 12.5'.
• Feet and inches: 12' 6", 12'6", 12'-6", 12 ft 6 in, and fractions such as 12' 6 1/2".
• Inches alone: 150" or 6 1/2".
• A plain number is decimal feet: 40 means 40 ft; 10 6 or 10-6 means 10 ft 6 in.
• A metric value with its unit stays metric: 3.05 m, 305 cm or 3050 mm.

How does ScaFix convert feet to metres?

Exactly: one foot is 0.3048 m and one inch 25.4 mm, the international definitions of 1959. The engine stores and calculates every wall in metres and prints the result in feet and inches, so a 40' wall is 12.192 m inside the engine and 40' on the screen.

Parts and deck heights print to the nearest half inch, the way the app's parts list does; the scaffold area prints in whole square feet.

How many parts do US systems need for the same 40' × 20' wall?

Every US system with its own ScaFix system page on the same straight 40' × 20' wall, level ground, default width, no corners. Frames weld two posts and a bearer into one part; ringlock, cuplock and wedge systems build the same bay from standards, ledgers and transoms, so they need more pieces. Where a system's wall-tie rule in ScaFix is not yet checked against the manufacturer's manual, its total is an estimate («≈»).

Questions and answers