ScaFixSoftware
What does scaffold software do?
Scaffold software covers a chain of jobs: capture the building, lay out the scaffold, count the parts, price the work, track the kit and, in some tools, check the structure. No single product does all of it equally well.
By Ole Emil Frikstad Urstad · How the numbers are computed ·
What does scaffold software do?
Scaffold software turns a building’s dimensions, drawing or model into a scaffold layout with bays, lifts, corners and ties, shows it in 3D, and counts every part for a bill of materials. Depending on the tool it also prices quotes, manages hire and stock, or runs structural checks such as TG20 compliance or FEM analysis.
What are the stages scaffold software covers?
This guide explains the whole category. If you are looking for scaffold design software for the layout step alone, that page goes into it in more detail.
Think of a scaffold job as six steps. Every tool starts somewhere in this chain and stops somewhere else.
- Capture the building: wall lengths and heights, a drawing, a model or a scan.
- Lay out the scaffold: bays along each wall, lifts up to the working height, corners, access and ties.
- Model it: a 3D view and 2D drawings for the crew and the client.
- Count the parts: a parts list (bill of materials) with quantities and often weights.
- Run the business: quotes, hire periods, deliveries, returns and stock.
- Check the structure: tie forces, standard loads, compliance with TG20 or a design standard.
The rest of this guide goes through each step and names the tools that are strong there. For a side-by-side ranking, see the best scaffold software page (our comparison; we make ScaFix).
How do you get the building into the software?
There are four routes, and the tools differ a lot here.
- Typed dimensions. The quickest route for houses and simple facades. Layher’s LayPLAN CLASSIC produces a scaffold proposal after you enter the key project data.
- PDF and CAD drawings. SMART Estimator imports PDF, DWG, DXF and IFC files and can take off from Google Maps satellite imagery; scaffmax scales a PDF, image or DXF/DWG plan into a 3D building; Avontus Designer imports IFC, PDF and AutoCAD plans.
- BIM models. NTI SCAFFPLANNER runs inside Autodesk Revit with IFC and BCF support, and Scaffcalc advertises an IFC-to-scaffold workflow.
- Scans and point clouds. Avontus documents a route where a phone, tablet or drone app (Scaniverse) captures a mesh that is cleaned in MeshLab and imported into Designer as OBJ (Avontus docs). ScaffPlan, which runs on SketchUp or Tekla, teaches E57 point-cloud import through Trimble Scan Essentials in SketchUp Studio (ScaffPlan e-learning).
How does the software lay out bays, lifts, corners and ties?
You pick a system, and the software fills each wall with standard bay lengths, adds lifts up to the platform height, and closes the corners. LayPLAN CLASSIC adds anchoring, bracing and side protection to its proposal automatically. SMART Estimator, according to Scaffmag’s 2019 report, checks a scaffold against the TG20:13 design criteria and works out how many ties it needs. CADS, the company behind SMART Scaffolder, also developed the TG20:13 eGuide software for the NASC; the guidance itself is the NASC’s (Scaffmag, 2017).
Corners are the weak spot of simple tools. Whether a system turns a corner with a shared standard, a short bay or brackets changes the parts count, and a tool that does not model it will under-count. How ties and corners are set out on a real elevation is covered step by step in our guide on how to plan a facade scaffold.
What does the 3D model add?
A 3D model lets the crew see the job before they load the truck, and lets a client approve it. Nearly every tool here has one. Avontus sends designs to its Viewer app for AR and VR presentations; SMART exports IFC, DWG, PDF and HTML; PERI’s browser tools make 2D and 3D plans without a CAD licence (PERI QuickSolve).
What goes into the parts list and weights?
A parts list has to include the small items as well as the frames and decks: base jacks, toe boards, couplers, end guardrails. A good list gives article numbers, quantities and weights so the transport can be planned. PERI’s Scaffold Estimation Tool lists each item’s article number, quantity, weight, total weight, surface and volume and exports to Excel. NTI SCAFFPLANNER outputs part lists, quantities and weights; Scaffcalc calculates square metres and total weight next to its bill of materials. To check a list by hand, our methodology page explains how quantities follow from wall size.
Can scaffold software handle quotes, hire and inventory?
Some of it is less about design and more about running the yard.
- Quotes. SMART Estimator calculates materials, labour and hire, produces branded quotations and passes invoicing data to QuickBooks, Sage and Xero. Scaffcalc generates PDF proposals.
- Hire and stock. Avontus Quantify is built for rental: invoices billed in advance or arrears, on-hire and off-hire dates, stock by customer and site, and field crews confirming deliveries and returns by scanning QR tags.
If your business is hire, the inventory system matters more than the drawing tool. If you mainly erect for your own jobs, it may not matter at all.
Which scaffold software does structural checks?
This is the question that separates the tools most clearly. The table reflects what each vendor’s own page said when we checked it on 23 October 2026.
| Tool | Structural check stated by the vendor |
|---|---|
| Layher LayPLAN CAD | Passes the structural model to RSTAB frame analysis (LayPLAN TO RSTAB) |
| Scaffcalc | Structural load calculations from the model; FEM in the engineering tier |
| NTI SCAFFPLANNER | Automatic strength calculations inside Revit |
| scaffmax | Structural (Statik) module |
| SMART Estimator | Checks against TG20:13 criteria and estimates ties |
| Avontus Designer | No structural analysis described on the product page; it focuses on layout, 3D and quantities and links to Navisworks for BIM coordination |
| PERI Scaffold Estimation Tool | No structural check described; an estimate of material |
| ScaFix | None: planning and parts lists only |
A check in software is not a design approval. In Great Britain, the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Schedule 3 Part 2 paragraph 7, require strength and stability calculations for scaffolding unless a note of calculations covering the arrangement is available or the scaffold is assembled in conformity with a generally recognised standard configuration. Paragraph 8 adds that, depending on its complexity, an assembly, use and dismantling plan must be drawn up by a competent person. In the US, 29 CFR 1926.451(a)(6) says scaffolds must be designed by a qualified person and built and loaded to that design. The wider duties are summarised in UK scaffolding regulations and TG20 and OSHA scaffolding requirements.
Who needs which software function?
This is our assessment from the stages above, not vendor data.
| Function | Small builder or roofer | Scaffolding contractor | Hire company | Engineer or designer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick layout from dimensions or PDF | Essential | Useful | Rarely | Rarely |
| 3D model for the client | Useful | Essential | Useful | Useful |
| Parts list with weights | Essential | Essential | Essential | Useful |
| Quotes and labour | Rarely | Essential | Useful | Rarely |
| Hire billing and stock | Rarely | Useful | Essential | Rarely |
| TG20 or structural checks | Rarely | Useful | Rarely | Essential |
| BIM, IFC, point clouds | Rarely | Useful on large jobs | Rarely | Essential |
How do you choose scaffold software?
- Start with your system. Manufacturer tools (LayPLAN, PERI) know their own parts best but do not plan other brands. Multi-brand tools (Avontus, Scaffcalc, SMART, NTI) suit fleets with mixed kit.
- Match the input to your drawings. If clients send PDFs, check PDF import. If they send Revit or IFC models, look at NTI or Scaffcalc.
- Decide who checks the structure. If you need TG20 compliance in the UK, look at SMART. If an engineer signs off, choose a tool that exports to their analysis software.
- Check the platform. LayPLAN CAD needs AutoCAD, NTI needs Revit, ScaffPlan needs SketchUp or Tekla; Scaffcalc and the PERI tools run in a browser.
- Test it on a real job. Model a building you have already scaffolded and compare the parts list with what went to site.
For the trade-offs between two specific tools, see our ScaFix and Avontus comparison (written by us, the makers of ScaFix).
What can scaffold software not do?
It cannot see the ground. It does not know whether the wall will hold an anchor, whether a drain runs under a base plate, or whether the client will move a skip into your access bay. It counts parts, but the quality of those parts is checked in the yard. And it only plans what the system’s instructions allow: outside the standard configurations you need a design, whatever the screen shows. ScaFix covers steps 1 to 4 of the chain above, from wall dimensions or a PDF drawing to a 3D scaffold and parts list for a chosen system, and does no structural check, hire billing or approval.
This is planning information, not structural approval. In Great Britain the Work at Height Regulations, enforced by HSE, and in the US OSHA’s 29 CFR 1926 Subpart L decide what may be built, together with the manufacturer’s instructions and a TG20 compliance sheet or a bespoke design; a competent person must inspect the scaffold before use.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best scaffold design software?
It depends on the job: LayPLAN for Layher systems, Avontus for multi-brand design and hire, SMART Scaffolder for UK estimating with TG20 checks, Scaffcalc or NTI for engineering and BIM. Compare them by input, systems and checks rather than by feature count.
Does scaffold software replace a scaffold design?
No. Software checks help, but a configuration outside the manufacturer’s instructions or TG20 still needs a design by a qualified person, and a competent person must inspect the finished scaffold.
Can scaffold software read a PDF drawing?
Several can: SMART Estimator, scaffmax and Avontus Designer all import PDFs. How much of the take-off is automatic varies, so test it with drawings from your own clients.
What is scaffolding inventory software?
Software that tracks where every component is and bills hire periods, such as Avontus Quantify. It manages stock and invoices rather than designing the scaffold.
Which scaffold software works with point clouds or scans?
ScaffPlan imports E57 point clouds via SketchUp Studio, and Avontus imports meshes captured with phone, tablet or drone scan apps. Check key dimensions on site before ordering.
Sources
Primary sources used for this article, with the date each was read.
- Layher: LayPLAN CLASSIC (read 23 October 2026)
- Layher: LayPLAN CAD (read 23 October 2026)
- Avontus Designer (re-checked 23 Oct 2026) (read 23 October 2026)
- Avontus Quantify (read 23 October 2026)
- Avontus docs: real-world buildings into 3D models (read 23 October 2026)
- Scaffcalc (read 23 October 2026)
- Scaffcalc: plans and features (read 23 October 2026)
- ScaffPlan: platform and plans (read 23 October 2026)
- ScaffPlan e-learning: import point cloud data (read 23 October 2026)
- SMART Scaffolder: SMART Estimator (read 23 October 2026)
- Scaffmag: SMART Scaffolder adds the TG20:13 wind factor (2019) (read 23 October 2026)
- Scaffmag: NASC release TG20:13 eGuide version 1.2 (2017) (read 23 October 2026)
- NTI: NTI SCAFFPLANNER (read 23 October 2026)
- Softguide: scaffmax (read 23 October 2026)
- PERI: QuickSolve (read 23 October 2026)
- PERI: Scaffold Estimation Tool (read 23 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Work at Height Regulations 2005, Schedule 3 (read 23 October 2026)
- eCFR: 29 CFR 1926.451 General requirements (scaffolds) (read 23 October 2026)