thanks for all the replies, especially thanks to Jason its much appriciated, although I dont get the plant pots reference ha ha? and shef scaff im really not takin the p iss dont know why you would think i was? and i really dont think scaffys are thick?? all the replies here are thoughtfull and well articulated, i just want to get an experienced opinion on the proffession. Back to jasons comments, the time frame you have give me to do my part one and two seem very long? i really do respect what you say as you have the experience yourself, and it is probably me being totaly naive but i just cant see what there is to learn over ten years in scaffolding? just because to become a dentist it takes 5 years training and pilots train for 7 and they command massive wages? surly if you are shown how to erect scaffolding once or twice it cant be that hard to retain that information? or are there different types of erections and combinations of erections and mathmatical equations to consider when erecting scaffolding? again please dont take this as cheek im not trying to belittle scaffolding im just trying to understand why you give the time frames? im just a person who does not take things at face value without asking a few questions first