Scaff Permits

Mitchells Scaffolding

Mitchells Scaffolding

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Location
Accrington Lancashire
Permits vary from council to council
Recent cutbacks have now made getting a permit on bog standard terrace houses in Lancashire ring a call center
No problem with that if it save on my council tax bill
But when an emergency job comes in i.e. roofer only books it the night before
the phone operator cant authorize it and money being the all important factor the job needs to go ahead
how do you cope
then to cap it off a great big lamppost is all but glued to the property and they have to get an engineer to come out and switch off the power at a stupid cost then re power it at another stupid cost
my question is if the lampposts are so dangerous how come babies in prams going past them or cyclist who secure their bikes with chains arnt frazzled and even the little vandals who like to think their muscles can bend anything (except the one call the brain 0) are safe when a scaffolder is in such danger:confused:
 
I think most lamp posts round here are now earthed separately so most of the time there is no need for a engineer to call although we alway's let council confirm this even though it is blatantly obvious. I think there has been a few instances where dog's left tied up have lifted their leg and got zapped so there is definitely a danger with these things. I think it just increases the risk if the lamp post is not 100% and as there has been a few reported deaths in these instances they are covering themselves. A few of the builders round here can erect a scaffold without permission in the event of an emergency. We don't deal with them at all and just leave that to them.
 
This the people we are dealing with
Extracts from genuine letters written to local councils in the UK:


1. It's the dogs mess that I find hard to swallow.
2. I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off.
3. I wish to complain that my father twisted his ankle very badly when he put his foot in the hole in his back passage.
4. Their 18 year old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.
5. I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other day that blew them off.
6. My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?
7. I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.
8. Will you please send someone to mend the garden path. My wife tripped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant.
9. I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen.
10. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster, and 50% are just plain filthy.
11. I am still having problems with smoke in my new drawers.
12. The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared.
13. Will you please send a man to look at my water, it is a funny colour and not fit to drink.
14. Our lavatory seat is broken in half and now is in three pieces.
15. I want to complain about the farmer across the road. Every morning at 6am his cock wakes me up and it's now getting too much for me.
16. The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.
17. Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two children and would like a third, so please send someone round to do something about it..
18. I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man on top of me every night.
19. Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife.
20. I have had the clerk of works down on the floor six times but I still have no satisfaction.
21. This is to let you know that our lavatory seat is broke and we can't get BBC2.
22. My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it.
23. He's got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can't take it anymore.
 
We did a induction on the Gas Alliance and during that they showed us a small light fixed above a doorway on a block of council flats. An access tower was needed so along came the poor scaffolder erected the first lift climbed up and touched the casing of the light fitting and was KILLED instantly.
Unfortunately the light was wired incorrectly and the casing was live, i think I'd rather someone qualified came and checked.
 
grenrose said:
We did a induction on the Gas Alliance and during that they showed us a small light fixed above a doorway on a block of council flats. An access tower was needed so along came the poor scaffolder erected the first lift climbed up and touched the casing of the light fitting and was KILLED instantly.
Unfortunately the light was wired incorrectly and the casing was live, i think I'd rather someone qualified came and checked.
Click to expand...

Good point

but we keep databases with info are the councils not in the habit of doing the same so they then know which of there instalations have had checks
 
Mitchell's Scaffolding said:
Permits vary from council to council
Recent cutbacks have now made getting a permit on bog standard terrace houses in Lancashire ring a call center
No problem with that if it save on my council tax bill
But when an emergency job comes in i.e. roofer only books it the night before
the phone operator cant authorize it and money being the all important factor the job needs to go ahead
how do you cope
then to cap it off a great big lamppost is all but glued to the property and they have to get an engineer to come out and switch off the power at a stupid cost then re power it at another stupid cost
my question is if the lampposts are so dangerous how come babies in prams going past them or cyclist who secure their bikes with chains arnt frazzled and even the little vandals who like to think their muscles can bend anything (except the one call the brain 0) are safe when a scaffolder is in such danger:confused:
Click to expand...

The answer is very simple in my mind,'MONEY' No matter how these councils or utility companies can get it, it's always about the money.If they had to run their departments as a business 'Time restrained' they would all be bust within a year.However time is never an issue for them.
 
I Know its an old post but

Under the Freedom of Information act
one of the councils where we apply for scaff permits was asked the questions

Q. how many scaff permits have been issued in the past 12 months ( fairly large Council) answer 33 we got 23 of them

Q, what is the process if you dont get a permit and get caught
Answer a letter through property door where scaff in place

Q, how many companys taken to court for failure to get a permit in last 4 years
Answer 0

Q,what do you do if a scaff is unsafe
answer what is a scafftag

is it any wonder that bad workmanship and unsafe practice continues:(
 
It must vary from county to county right enough as the guy down here will get scaffolds without a permit removed.
 
Same here Phill, never done a permit although the bit I do have to fill in still asks for BS5973.
 
Mitchells Scaffolding said:
here we have a 0845 number to call that covers a large part of lancashire only scaffolding company's can order them they wont even entertain the builders or home owners
Click to expand...

That's interesting and it has come up for me in the past. There was talk of making it a scaffolder only thing but it was more to do with hammering our insurance if anything went wrong. I reckoned that as the builders were there the longest and accepted my scaffold as theirs by signing the hand-over and were acting as the main contractor they should have over all responsibility for the site not the scaffolder. Obviously we would be dragged in if anything was shoddy but the first port of call for any authority should be the main contractor.

How do you get on Mitchells with other requirements of the permit like hoardings and lights?
 
aom said:
That's interesting and it has come up for me in the past. There was talk of making it a scaffolder only thing but it was more to do with hammering our insurance if anything went wrong. I reckoned that as the builders were there the longest and accepted my scaffold as theirs by signing the hand-over and were acting as the main contractor they should have over all responsibility for the site not the scaffolder. Obviously we would be dragged in if anything was shoddy but the first port of call for any authority should be the main contractor.

How do you get on Mitchells with other requirements of the permit like hoardings and lights?
Click to expand...


a lot largely depends on the area, certain councils (all contacted via the pre mentioned call centre) will request padding on uprights, lights have not as yet been requested for a permit but the contractors usually stipulated there requirements and alarm needs
but again this issue could just be down to the size of the council where the scaff is going.
as for hoarding when we request the permit it is normally stated by me that the scaffolding will have a hoarding at base level
Odd times they also want to know the practice we will use to ensure pedestrian safety during the erect and dismantle.
but i have to say only 50% of the councils even ask for copy’s of insurances

absolutely no consistency from one area/council to the next one of the smaller councils we do deal with regularly have to receive payment prior to the erection date but insist on cheques and cannot accept a bacs payment and will not issue the permit until they have been paid it often means I get a trip out though:bigsmile:
 
I just wondered as any other requirements over and above the normal scaffold we always back heel on to the main contractor. Also inspections are normally carried out by the MC with an additional site inspection required up here but it could get messy if the permit was mine and I had then over all responsibility for the site. Even site deliveries are to be supervised by the permit holder up here, how would I deal with that? Your gripe is quite correct, it would be nice to have a standard procedure to follow.
 
What happens if the pavement gets damaged by the builders and the scaffolders hold the permit ?

what happens if the hoarding and lights are not done properly and the scaffolders hold the permit ?

What happens if some one sues the permit holder and it is not the scaffolders fault but they hold the permit ?

we had nearly £8k tied up in permit deposits for 6 months once



Not on my watch lads the builder can get it and pay the deposit :)
 
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