Independent inspection companies

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andyf8686

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What the feeling to wards independent inspection companies ?
Is this a good thing for the industry or should it be left down to site managers with no concept of what is and what is not required ?
Would your company take them the wrong way or support them ?
Would your company choose to use the inspection company to hand the job over as the inspection company will require ther own insurance etc so taking so of the presure of the scaffold company's insurance ?

And before anyone clocks on yes my company goes live in September everything is in place just going to do the last advanced course to tie up the fine ends of things :embarrest:
 
A good idea, but a waste of time also.

For a few reasons, one being that Scaffold companies wont pay you to check their work for them, when they can ask one of their own blokes to do it for free.

There could also be a few snags...

  • How much will you want paying to check each job?
  • What if you check a big job, thats going to make the Scaffolding contractor alot of money - but you see faults init is going to COST the firm alot to put right?
  • How are you going to get inducted for each site? - Are the contractor going to pay for you to be inducted?
  • If you check the job and sign it off and it fails, causing alot of damage your going to be sued by everyone and his uncle. - How much insurance would you think your gonna need?

As i said, its a good idea, but one i think is going to be difficult to get it off the gound, as these far more to consider then just doing a course and signing off a few jobs, imo.
 
To be honest mate I am not interested in the scaffold companies I a going to the main clients also the HSE etc but that's for your thoughts
 
Use to use a scaff inspector on a few sites . He'd come every week,spend a few hours write up a report,invoice every month. Inductions only once,on the first day. Havnt a clue what his rates were,but could find out. Good scaffs still miss a few things.
 
There's definitely a growing market for the inspection service Andy, Safety & Access were probably one of the first companies to provide the service combined with a Scaffolding training center & along came Simian and no doubt others will pop up, you are right in targeting clients as opposed to Scaff companies.

Good luck and all the best
 
There are about 30 companies offering this service in the Uk up to the end of last year, about 5 in the north west and 3 in the north east. A lot of the larger construction companies are now employing employed inspectors in house due to the recession. Best of luck with your new business.
 
Cheers Simian
The only one i new of was green drogan and they got hammered in the courts not long ago and heard they close that side of things
 
I know your not targeting the scaffold firms Andy but I reckon you should not rule them out. There will be pit falls to it as Jason has mentioned but to be honest I wouldn't mind another set of eyes on the odd job plus it's always nice to impress one or two clients with an additional service. As ever cost is key, but you already know that, good luck in your new venture.
 
Good luck with your new venture, Andy :)

I would have thought independant inspections would always be best. I didn't realise a company can have their own. Wouldn't that possibly lead to a little bias? Or is it then up to HSE to inspect the inspector?
 
best of luck Andy in your new venture however you may want to look into your NEBOSH cert in the construction quarter as this will open one or two doors for you with the likes of the big boys ie, Balfour Beatty / Kiers / taylorwoodrow / Barrats to mention only a few.
 
NEBOSH cert JUST PRICE NEBOSH YESTERDAY REDCAR TECH £1300 1DAY A WEEK FOR 14 WEEKS PART 1

PART 2 £900 9 WEEKS PLUS TESTS

AND YOU CAN FAIL THESE ONES
 
HI ANDY8686,
Ithink independant scaffold inspection companies are exactly what are needed. If the cost in this could be transferrerd into the cost of scaffolding prices.
I have no probs with signing off my own scafftags now after my last post responses, only posted coz i couldnt understand how you could sign off your own work..
After 29 years in the game without an accident i am finding all the new HSE really bemusing.
Good luck with your project.
 
andyf8686 said:
To be honest mate I am not interested in the scaffold companies I a going to the main clients also the HSE etc but that's for your thoughts
Click to expand...

It is something i have been advocating for a long time, i remember being on a rig in the early 80s when they brought a indepentent scaffold inspector on board to do a assessment,it was unbelievable the way the supervisors and tag men reacted, the inspector did not find very much wrong but it kept the supervisors and foreman on there toes,ive been on (BIG SITES) where it was damn near immpossible for a tag man to get around and do the job correctly, having a indepentent inspector at least you are going to get a fair assessment ,no dig at the inspectors who are working for the company but they are under pressure at all times,
 
To have a truly "independent" scaffold inspection service, you must have independent funding in place,either through government or a levy on the construction Industry.

As a business we inspect scaffold and act as consultants on other H&S issues,although we are independent of our clients, they are still the paymasters.

You tread a fine line by insisting on best practice or being a little bit laxed in your interpretation of "Reasonable and Practible" when writing up your reports

We put into our reports what we see, and suggest remedies to any issues that are present.

We are advisors only, the duty of care still rest's with the P.C. If they ignore our recomendations so be it.We offer no Insurance or Imdemnity to our clients, although thier (clients) Insurance premiums may be less when they state that they have regular "Independent" inspections and audit's
 
you have hit the nail on the head when you say "reasonable" and "practible"have you ever had any come back after your report as gone in,regarding a scaffold been unsafe ,and someone as fell ,who then decides the interpretation of "reasonable" or "practible"
 
It's "Reasonable and Practicable" until something goes wrong then it's an unsafe act. Think that about covers it.
 
AOM you don't half no the Buzz words for the old Health & Safety crack (Fun Police) maybe I could work for you and we could stage the ultimate scam due to circumstances unforeseeable to one's self.
 
Too many meetings with agents and supervisors who only understand that lingo. Could be a good idea with the new firm, would we need to register it?;)
 
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