ScaFixShort answer
What is a TG20 compliance sheet?
In the UK most tube-and-fitting scaffolds are built without a calculation of their own, because they fall inside NASC's TG20:21 guidance. The compliance sheet is the paper that proves it for one particular scaffold.
By Ole Emil Frikstad Urstad · How the numbers are computed ·
What is a TG20 compliance sheet?
A TG20 compliance sheet is a two-page document, produced in NASC's TG20:21 eGuide, that summarises the dimensions and criteria a tube-and-fitting scaffold must meet (NASC FAQs). It shows the customer that the scaffold falls within TG20 and therefore needs no bespoke design. The front carries an illustration and the main limits, the back the detailed criteria.
Before you rely on this guide
This guide summarises published rules to help you plan and is not legal advice. It has not been reviewed by a qualified scaffold designer or engineer. ScaFix is a planning aid, not structural approval: the manufacturer's instructions, the scaffold design and a competent person's inspection decide what is built and used on site.
What is printed on a TG20 compliance sheet?
Two pages for one configuration. Since TG20:21 the sheet is double-sided: the illustration and the principal compliance criteria on the front, the detailed criteria in landscape format on the back. The main limits, such as maximum dimensions and loading, sit as badges along the bottom of the front page, and a return adds a third page.
| Part of the sheet | What it holds | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Front | An illustration of the scaffold and the principal compliance criteria | Construction Management, 2021 |
| Back | The detailed compliance criteria, in landscape format | Construction Management, 2021 |
| Extra page for a return | How far the scaffold extends around the return, how it connects there and how it is tied as it turns the corner | CISRS, 4 September 2026 |
NASC is explicit that the illustration "is only intended to show the principal compliance features of the scaffold", so the drawing is not an erection drawing: the criteria on the back decide.
Who produces a compliance sheet, and how?
The scaffolding contractor, in NASC's TG20 eGuide software, by entering the configuration of the scaffold to be built. NASC's FAQs say the sheet is produced "from the relevant software within the eGuide", and that a scaffold the eGuide does not support cannot get one any other way. Since September 2026 the ePortal also offers 1.5 m lifts and returns.
TG20 itself has four elements: the Operational Guide, the Design Guide, the User Guide and the eGuide software. NASC's FAQs treat a TG30 compliance sheet the same way. For system scaffolds outside that guidance the manufacturer's instructions play the role of the compliance sheet.
What does a compliance sheet not cover?
Anything outside TG20's compliant configurations. NASC says a scaffold that cannot be built within TG20 or TG30 needs a bespoke design, and HSE lists the usual cases: cantilevers beyond the compliant range, temporary roofs, complex loading bays, access scaffolds with more than two working lifts and system scaffolds outside the maker's guidance.
A compliance sheet also says nothing about whether the scaffold was built as shown. That is the job of the handover and of the inspection, which in Great Britain is due before first use and at least every 7 days. How the handover is documented is covered in the scaffold handover certificate, and when a design is needed in when a scaffold needs a design.
How many lifts can a TG20 scaffold use at once?
Two working platforms at a time. HSE notes that TG20:21's compliant scaffolds can be boarded at any number of lifts, but only two platforms may be used as working platforms at the same time. A job that needs more working lifts at once, such as several trades stacked on one facade, falls outside the compliant scaffold and needs a design.
Where should the compliance sheet be kept?
On site, with the tie test results. NASC's FAQs say the relevant design or compliance sheet, which lays out the tie load requirements, and the tie test report should be available during erection and at handover. NASC also recommends a handover certificate that refers to the compliance sheet or design, though no law requires one.
What changed with TG20:21?
The guide moved to an expanded online eGuide in 2021 and added configurations. Construction Management lists exterior birdcages, tube-and-fitting mobile towers, loading bays without beams and tied independent scaffolds with three inside boards. In September 2026 NASC added 1.5 m lifts, useful for bricklaying on new-build sites, and returns.
The UK rules around the sheet, from the Work at Height Regulations to CISRS cards, are in UK scaffolding regulations, and the difference between the two classic tube scaffolds in independent vs putlog scaffold.
Planning information, not structural approval. The TG20:21 guides and eGuide, the manufacturer's instructions or a bespoke design decide the configuration, and a competent person inspects the scaffold before use.
Frequently asked questions
Is a TG20 compliance sheet a legal requirement?
Not as such. The Work at Height Regulations require a scaffold to be designed unless it is built to a generally recognised standard configuration; the compliance sheet is how a contractor shows that a tube-and-fitting scaffold falls within TG20.
Can I get a TG20 compliance sheet for any scaffold?
No. NASC says a scaffold the eGuide does not support has no other route to a compliance sheet; it needs a bespoke design.
Does a system scaffold need a TG20 compliance sheet?
TG20 covers tube and fitting. System scaffolds follow the manufacturer's instructions, or a TG30 sheet where that guidance applies.
What is the difference between a compliance sheet and a handover certificate?
The compliance sheet says what the scaffold must be; the handover certificate records what was built and handed over. NASC recommends the certificate refers to the sheet.
Sources
Primary sources used for this article, with the date each was read.
- NASC: FAQs (TG20 and TG30 compliance sheets, design, handover certificates) (read 25 October 2026)
- Construction Management: NASC updates TG20 scaffolding eGuide (12 April 2021) (read 25 October 2026)
- CISRS / NASC: TG20 update, 1.5 m lifts and returns now available in the ePortal (4 September 2026) (read 25 October 2026)
- HSE: Scaffolding (TG20:21 compliant scaffolds, working platforms, design) (read 25 October 2026)
- NASC: TG20:21 User Guide (tube and fitting scaffolding) (read 25 October 2026)
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