Common Sense - Where has it gone?

J

Jason-Gibbs

Guest
Hi guys.

This aint a rant/dig at any particular firm, though some are worse then others... This is just a query about Scaffolding firms in general.

Im a simple bloke.
I see things either black or white... right or wrong.

But i simply cant understand why Scaffolding firms are so unorganised?
From some massive jobs, like Heathrow T5 to little one man bands, ive been on most types of sites and firms.
Its always the same thing.

  • No cutter... we have to beg/borrow it off some other trade.
  • No PPE, which SHOULD be supplied by your employer. - Most times i have to buy my own, due to their not being any in the office.
  • No gear on site, or the right gear we need for a job, ie: we need to do some high-level hand rail off the steels and they'll be no Gravloks available anywhere, but the supervisor knew about the job 2 weeks ago...
  • We'll need 10ft boards... none on site, so we'll have to spend several hours cutting/finding 13ft boards to cut.
  • No one knows where the Scaffold needs to go, whos asked for it, other then its been written down on a post it note somewhere...
  • Lorry turns up - big job, cranes on site. No one books the poxxy thing, so the gear has to be offloaded by hand. :confused:

Fukking stupid things like that.
Tbh, i could go on and on.


The bosses ALWAYS plead poverty, they are apparently always skint, so if thats the case, then why do they waste so much time and money on stupid things? - No common sense at all.

I mean, i look at a job or a drawing. - I take a few minutes to look around and see if there is the gear available to do the job, or ill change/adapt to suit and work out another way to do things. - Common sense and makes my life easier.


Why cant the people in-charge, the ones with all this so called 'experience' and knowledge do the same?
Why do they have to keep fukking things up and make our lifes harder?
Why cant they use some vision for a change?
Why cant they organise themselves properly? - I mean, its their job to do so, afterall.


Im sure if i turned up and i was useless, they'd fukk me off down the road...
I dont get it, i really dont. :mad:


Rant Over.
 
In my limited experience nobody gives a flying feck how awkward it is for you to do the job especially if it's time and materials. The only way to change it would be to make said gaffer unload the truck, walk the gear or cut the boards then see how all of a sudden the crane would become available. Any gaffer, foreman or owner who doesn't want or can't cut it on the guns the odd day should be hung from the testee's and zapped with the truck battery until he can either do the job or organise it so a proper scaff can.

Think the meds are wearing off. :D
 
i dont think this just applies to scaffolding. In general all construction projects these days seem to be a complete shambles in whatever country you go to.
I feel it is down to people in management positions who have no actual hands on experience.
Its similar to all these HSE guys who have read a few books, done a tap root and risk assessment course just after leaving university or the army and then try and lay the rules down to the experienced construction guys who are actually trying to get the job done and make a profit.
 
"You have not booked the crane," that really pee's me off mate. Crane driver sitting there doing fek all, but can't give you a couple of lifts, or "sorry scaff, the crane is for the brickies," wot a load of ********! 13' x 160', 2 handed on price, fekking lorry turns up at 9 with no base plates, or rope and wheel, Hilti rings turn up, but hey, where the bullets? As you said Jason you could go "on and on."
 
Thats site work for you , we go out totally independent drills, skill saw ,grinder , and a generator the lads even have a kettle with them for a cup of tea . street life is the only life i know

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnNyxy7XPfs]Street life-Randy Crawford - YouTube[/ame]
 
the last bastion of common sense phillio i would say....try hold on to it for as long as you can mate as the powers that be will soon be trying to ruin that too.
 
Nothing better than street work phillio, 3 handed, 2 fixers, 2 that can drive the wagon, load your own gear needed, and do the job! Funny how things have changed, give the lads a generator, top fella, no more pub to charge the hilti batteries, or popping in to that sort to plug it in for half an hour lol
 
Fully agree Celtic , trouble is we do have to take on some site work and i end up going in there my self , i got a yellow card last week for cutting the fingers of my gloves hahahahaha like being back at school

---------- Post added at 09:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

Ding Dong over 30 years on the street myself mate i know all the scams hahahahaha
Leave yard at 6am , Breakfast , start work around 7.30am , work like fu ck till around 11.30am quick cup of tea , work like fu ck till around 2.30pm, back to yard load up for morning , out of yard by 4pm latest , no cu nt on your case just get your work done and go home , you cant beat it mate ;)
 
dingdong said:
"You have not booked the crane," that really pee's me off mate. Crane driver sitting there doing fek all, but can't give you a couple of lifts, or "sorry scaff, the crane is for the brickies," wot a load of ********! 13' x 160', 2 handed on price, fekking lorry turns up at 9 with no base plates, or rope and wheel, Hilti rings turn up, but hey, where the bullets? As you said Jason you could go "on and on."
Click to expand...

Ya mate...
Pisses me off.

Ive run a few sites over the years and on EVERY one the site was run like a fukking army base.

On one job: not a fitting out of place, nor a tube. Id always make sure that i had my own little stock take of materials, so the boys had the gear they needed for the job. I made sure that i was fair and tried my best to get on with the Site Agent and if a lorry turned up, i made sure the crane was booked... No one overloaded a fitting by hand, as its a total waste of time, if there is a crane there.
And after all that was done, id ring the Agent and tell him where i was, if he needed me and id put my tools on and start grafting with the boys...

What happened?

Fukking prick of a Supervisor made things so difficult for me, i ended up jacking the job in.
I mean there was no complaints from anyone and he'd be ringing me all day on my case, stupid questions, sarcastic comments.
I wouldn't mind but the job was literally MONTHS ahead of schedule. :mad:

Ill never be a foreman again.
'Once bitten, twice shy'.


philliosmaximus said:
Ding Dong over 30 years on the street myself mate i know all the scams hahahahaha
Leave yard at 6am , Breakfast , start work around 7.30am , work like fu ck till around 11.30am quick cup of tea , work like fu ck till around 2.30pm, back to yard load up for morning , out of yard by 4pm latest , no cu nt on your case just get your work done and go home , you cant beat it mate ;)
Click to expand...

I do sometimes miss street work.
Used to love the freedom and excitement of being in different places all the time, seeing different people, instead of being stuck on the same old job for months at a time.
 
"I wouldn't mind but the job was literally MONTHS ahead of schedule"

That must be the only job in history where the scaffolding was ahead of schedule. I have spent the last 30 odd years listening to people from the top project directors down to the humblest brickies, painters, welders and laggers moaning that it was the scaffolders fault they were behind.

Well done son!!
 
You must have worked on some shiit jobs then, thats all i can say... :unsure:

The job im on atm, is ahead of schedule.
We're putting up jobs that dont need doing for weeks.

Most jobs ive been on have run on schedule, if they dont the Scaffolding contractors face big fines for putting other trades back, with their own timetables.

How many sites you worked on and are told: 'This Scaffold needs to be up by today, its a priority', only for the Scaffold to then be unused for 3 weeks... Happens to me alot, im afraid.
 
Exactly my point Jason main contractors have always used scaffolding as a tool to try to get contractors to perform and contractors have always used scaffolding as an excuse not to perform.
And as for working on sh*tjobs it depends on what you class as a **** job.
The project I am on at the moment is behind schedule and has cost the client 14 billion dollars so far. However our scaffolding contract has just been extended and is currently in excess of 100 million dollars. So sh*t for the client but good for us and the scaffs.
The project I was on before that cost 6 billion dollars, was finished ahead of schedule and the scaff contract was worth 50 million pounds. We got paid but the main contractor didnt and are still going through the international courts trying to get a few billion back. So the scaffs won there as well!!!!!
 
Jason-Gibbs said:
How many sites you worked on and are told: 'This Scaffold needs to be up by today, its a priority', only for the Scaffold to then be unused for 3 weeks... Happens to me alot, im afraid.
Click to expand...

I'd say... about.... every single one I've ever worked on.
 
That's why I like street work.
Gaffer gives you a drawing, lads load the gear. Everything we need, gen, hilti gun, whatever, the lot then there's no fooking about
 
it has always been the case mate with only a few exeptions that its the useless sods get promoted because they are easy to manipulate and make good fall guys and that is why the jobs are never organised to add to your rant how come the useless supervisor alway times there own ability by 10 they always seem to say things like(that would have been up by now if i was doing it ) when you know when you worked with them on the tools they were forever ******* off to the toilet when there was hand balling to be done or on the phone its a sad fact of life that them that can will allways make up for them that cant

---------- Post added at 02:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:50 PM ----------
Jason-Gibbs said:
Hi guys.

This aint a rant/dig at any particular firm, though some are worse then others... This is just a query about Scaffolding firms in general.

Im a simple bloke.
I see things either black or white... right or wrong.

But i simply cant understand why Scaffolding firms are so unorganised?
From some massive jobs, like Heathrow T5 to little one man bands, ive been on most types of sites and firms.
Its always the same thing.

  • No cutter... we have to beg/borrow it off some other trade.
  • No PPE, which SHOULD be supplied by your employer. - Most times i have to buy my own, due to their not being any in the office.
  • No gear on site, or the right gear we need for a job, ie: we need to do some high-level hand rail off the steels and they'll be no Gravloks available anywhere, but the supervisor knew about the job 2 weeks ago...
  • We'll need 10ft boards... none on site, so we'll have to spend several hours cutting/finding 13ft boards to cut.
  • No one knows where the Scaffold needs to go, whos asked for it, other then its been written down on a post it note somewhere...
  • Lorry turns up - big job, cranes on site. No one books the poxxy thing, so the gear has to be offloaded by hand. :confused:

Fukking stupid things like that.
Tbh, i could go on and on.


The bosses ALWAYS plead poverty, they are apparently always skint, so if thats the case, then why do they waste so much time and money on stupid things? - No common sense at all.

I mean, i look at a job or a drawing. - I take a few minutes to look around and see if there is the gear available to do the job, or ill change/adapt to suit and work out another way to do things. - Common sense and makes my life easier.


Why cant the people in-charge, the ones with all this so called 'experience' and knowledge do the same?
Why do they have to keep fukking things up and make our lifes harder?
Why cant they use some vision for a change?
Why cant they organise themselves properly? - I mean, its their job to do so, afterall.


Im sure if i turned up and i was useless, they'd fukk me off down the road...
I dont get it, i really dont. :mad:


Rant Over.
Click to expand...


it has always been the case mate with only a few exeptions that its the useless sods get promoted because they are easy to manipulate and make good fall guys and that is why the jobs are never organised to add to your rant how come the useless supervisor alway times there own ability by 10 they always seem to say things like(that would have been up by now if i was doing it ) when you know when you worked with them on the tools they were forever ******* off to the toilet when there was hand balling to be done or on the phone its a sad fact of life that them that can will allways make up for them that cant
__________________
if it wobbles put a ladder up if it still wobbles put a ladder up the other side
 
Havespannerwilltravel said:
"I wouldn't mind but the job was literally MONTHS ahead of schedule"

That must be the only job in history where the scaffolding was ahead of schedule. I have spent the last 30 odd years listening to people from the top project directors down to the humblest brickies, painters, welders and laggers moaning that it was the scaffolders fault they were behind.

Well done son!!
Click to expand...

alway is the scaffolders fault get it all the time from pepole do your head in mate
 
After the first half day on a two day job

Site Agent.......When will that job be ready, I'm desperate blah, blah, blah

Scaff.....When I have tagged it and given you a handover certificate :)

Quality takes time, only mistakes are made in a hurry :cool:
 
it will be ready when its ready.
how long will it take? how longs a peice of string pal.

job ahead of schedule,efficiency breeds redundancy as long as the moneys in the bank they can **** it up all day long ;)

have spanner for prime minister i say along wi paddy,rigger,frederik and maybe make a cabinet space for aom and the poacher
 
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