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Guide

How to erect scaffolding: the order of work, from sole pad to handover

This guide sets out the order in which a facade scaffold goes up and comes down, which document governs each scaffold in the UK, and the US rules for the same steps. The worked example is a system scaffold manual published in English for the UK and international market.

By Ole Emil Frikstad Urstad · How the numbers are computed ·

Layher Blitz scaffolding around a house of 11.4 × 5.3 m with a gabled roof (eaves 4.5 m, ridge 6 m), drawn by the ScaFix 3D model
Layher Blitz around the example house, as ScaFix draws it in 3D.

How do you build or erect a scaffold?

Check the ground and lay sole pads, set the base jacks, then build the first lift and level it exactly. Add standards, ledgers, transoms, braces and decks lift by lift, fitting ties as you rise. Complete guardrails and toe boards before anyone works on a lift, add access, then inspect and hand over. Dismantle in reverse.

Who is allowed to erect a scaffold?

In Great Britain, HSE’s scaffolding guidance says scaffolds must be designed, erected, altered and dismantled only by competent people, and that every scaffold gang should contain a competent scaffolder who has been trained for the type of work. HSE points to the CISRS card scheme for what labourers, trainees, scaffolders and advanced scaffolders may each build. Erection, alteration and dismantling of any scaffold, basic or complex, should be directly supervised by a competent person.

The US rule is close in spirit but written as a duty on the employer. 29 CFR 1926.451(f)(7) allows erecting, moving, dismantling or altering only under a competent person’s supervision, by experienced and trained employees that person has selected. 1926.454(b) then lists what their training must cover: the hazards, the correct erecting and dismantling procedures for that type of scaffold, its design criteria and its maximum intended load.

Neither country lets a homeowner’s confidence stand in for that. If you are hiring a scaffold for your own house, the useful question to the contractor is who the competent supervisor on the day will be. An aluminium tower is a different product with its own method; see mobile tower safety.

How to erect a system scaffold in ten steps

The order below follows a system scaffold manual. Check every step against the instructions for the product you are building.

1. Check the ground and lay sole pads

Walk the line of the scaffold for drains, cellars, backfill and soft ground. Flatten the ground, lay load-spreading sole pads under every standard, and segregate the work area so no one walks below the erectors.

2. Set the base jacks

Place the jacks on the sole pads at the approximate standard positions, starting at the highest ground point, and keep them inside the manual’s adjustment range. Every base plate must bear over its full area.

3. Build and level the first lift

Fit the first standard with a transom and ledger in the lowest pockets, complete the first lift, then level it in both directions with a spirit level, adjusting at the jacks. Errors here grow with every lift above.

4. Add the remaining bays

Continue bay by bay along the wall, levelling and aligning each bay as you go, so the run is never a row of loose uprights.

5. Fit ledgers and transoms at deck level

Fit horizontals on both the inside and the outside faces at each lift height, with the lowest lift in the lowest possible pockets.

6. Install the diagonal bracing

Fit the diagonals in the pattern the manual sets, for example every fifth bay and the end bays on the outside face, and lock the connections before moving on.

7. Lay the decks

Lay the decks in every bay of the lift and engage the locks that stop them lifting. Keep the inside edge within the permitted distance from the wall, or add inside guardrails or brackets.

8. Tie in as you rise

Fit wall ties at the positions and anchor type given by the manual, TG20 or the design as each tie level is reached. Never build the next lift above an untied level that should already be tied.

9. Complete guardrails, toe boards and access

Close every working lift with guardrails at least 950 mm above the deck, an intermediate rail and a toe board, and build the ladder or stair access so each lift can be reached without climbing the outside.

10. Inspect and hand over

Have a competent person inspect the finished scaffold against the drawing and the instructions, tag it, and record the handover before any other trade uses it.

Which document do you build to?

HSE accepts a "generally recognised standard configuration", such as NASC’s TG20 for tube and fitting scaffolds, and says proprietary system scaffolds must be erected and tied according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Anything outside them, and any alteration that takes a scaffold outside them, must be designed by calculation by a competent person. So before the first sole pad goes down, the erector should know which document governs:

ScaffoldGoverning documentWhere it comes from
Tube and fitting, standard configurationTG20:21 compliance sheetNASC eGuide, produced per scaffold
System scaffold within the manualManufacturer’s instructionsThe system supplier
Anything outside both, or altered beyond themBespoke design by calculationA competent scaffold designer

TG20:21 is sold through the NASC ePortal, and its compliance sheets carry an illustration and the principal criteria on the front and the detailed criteria on the back (ScaffMag, April 2021).

The steps below follow a system scaffold, using HAKI Universal’s user’s manual, international English edition (HAKI AB, 2024) as the worked example. HAKI system scaffolding is sold in the UK through its exclusive dealer Enigma Industrial Services (International Rental News, March 2021). Frame systems replace standards and ledgers with welded frames, and tube and fitting replaces both with couplers, but the logic is the same: level base, braced first lift, ties as you go, protection before access.

Close-up of the corner where the long wall and the gable wall meet, with Layher Blitz standards, decks, guardrails and toe boards in the ScaFix 3D model
The corner: the bays of the two walls meet, with deck, guardrail and toe board on each lift.

What does a scaffold need underneath it?

The base carries every kilo the scaffold will ever hold, so it is the step to slow down on. OSHA requires each leg, post, frame or upright to bear on base plates and mud sills or another adequate firm foundation, with footings level and able to carry the loaded scaffold without settling, and it bans unstable objects such as loose bricks as supports (1926.451(c)(2)). HSE adds the hazard people forget: voids such as basements and drains, or soft patches of ground, that can collapse once the scaffold is loaded.

The manual then sets the working range of the jacks. HAKI tells the erector to check and flatten the ground, which must not settle unevenly, to improve its bearing capacity with sole pads, and to start at the highest ground point or where the layout plan says. Its base jacks adjust between 55 and 570 mm; where more is needed, the jacks are screwed down and the beams moved to the next group of pockets on the standard, so the ledgers stay horizontal without over-extending a jack.

How do you stay safe while the scaffold goes up?

The erector is the person most exposed to a fall, because the guardrails do not exist yet. HSE’s stated priority is to establish collective fall protection and to minimise both the time exposed to a fall risk and the reliance on harnesses. NASC’s SG4:22 guidance turns this into the "scaffolders’ safe zone" and recognised methods for erection, alteration and dismantling: Scaffsteps, advance guardrail systems, safe anchorage points and controlled working practices.

The manual shows what that means in practice. HAKI fits guardrail frames from the lift below with an advance guardrail tool, and for that the outer standards must stand one metre higher than the next lift. Outside the area of collective protection, erectors clip on, but only to the anchor points the manual lists.

In the US, 1926.451(g)(2) has, since 2 September 1997, required a competent person to decide whether fall protection for erectors and dismantlers is feasible and does not create a greater hazard, and to provide it where it is. Access for erectors is covered in (e)(9): the end frames of a tubular welded frame scaffold may be climbed only when their horizontal members are parallel, level and no more than 22 inches apart vertically.

Why do ties and braces go in during erection, not after?

Because an unbraced, untied scaffold is stable only until the first gust or the first person leans on it. OSHA requires supported scaffold poles and uprights to be plumb and braced against swaying and displacement (1926.451(c)(3)), and HSE asks for ties to be installed as the scaffold is erected.

The manual fixes the numbers. HAKI puts vertical diagonal braces between the outer standards in every fifth bay and always in the end bays, or guardrail frames in every bay and at every lift, including the bottom one. Each inside standard is tied every fourth metre of height next to the node, and the lowest tie sits no more than 4.8 m above the ground; a sheeted scaffold needs more ties and its own calculation. Tie patterns, tie forces and pull testing are covered in scaffold ties and anchoring, and our glossary entry on wall ties explains the parts.

Lifting gear belongs to the same planning. HAKI requires chain hoists, ropes and pulley blocks to be tested and approved under local rules, and forbids attaching lifting equipment to an unanchored scaffold. Hoists and gin wheels change the tie layout, as our guide to scaffold hoists explains.

How is a scaffold taken down?

Dismantling is erection in reverse, from the topmost lift. HAKI takes off toe boards and rails first, then the top decking, then the horizontals, diagonals and standards of that lift, and repeats lift by lift. Intermediate ties stay until the dismantling reaches their level, and material is lowered by rope or carried, never thrown. HSE asks for erection and dismantling inside a segregated area and never over people or a busy pavement. Before the gang leaves each evening, the part still standing must be tied, braced and either complete or barred.

What happens before the first trade steps on?

The scaffold is inspected and handed over. In the UK it may not be used until a competent person has inspected it after installation, and HSE asks for inspection at least every 7 days after that and after anything that could affect it, such as high winds. In the US a competent person inspects before each work shift. The checks are listed in our scaffold inspection checklist; deck width and load are covered in load classes.

If you are still at the planning stage, how to plan a facade scaffold covers bays, corners and lifts, and ScaFix can draw the bay-by-bay layout in 3D first so the erection order can be walked through before the lorry arrives.

This guide describes the usual order of work. It is not a method statement or a structural approval. In Great Britain the governing document is a TG20 compliance sheet, the manufacturer’s instructions or a design; in the US it is OSHA Subpart L and the manufacturer. A competent person must supervise erection and inspect before use.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put up scaffolding myself?

Not a facade scaffold for other people to work on. In the UK HSE expects scaffolds to be erected only by competent people; in the US OSHA requires a competent supervisor and trained erectors.

How do you build scaffolding step by step?

Ground and sole pads, base jacks, a level first lift, then bays, braces and decks lift by lift with ties fitted as each tie level is reached. Guardrails, toe boards and access come before anyone works on a lift, and a competent person inspects before handover.

How long does it take to erect scaffolding on a house?

It depends on the length, number of lifts, access and ground, so ask the contractor for a time based on the actual building. A level site goes up faster than a slope that needs long jacks or extra base lifts.

When do the ties go on?

As the scaffold rises, at the tie levels set by the manual, TG20 or the design. HSE’s rule is to install ties during erection and remove them in stages during dismantling.

What order is a scaffold taken down in?

The reverse of erection, from the top lift down. Ties come out only once the dismantling reaches their level, and nothing is thrown down.

Sources

Primary sources used for this article, with the date each was read.