Erecting Scaffolding for Your Loft Project

Putting Up the Scaffolding

The first job that your builder will do is put up the scaffolding for your loft conversion which will go on the outside of the house. The builders will also need to cut a hole in roof to be able to access the loft conversion, they will need to make sure that the hole is protected from harsh weather, the last thing you want is to get a leak in the loft before your loft conversion has started.

The builders will need to work from the scaffolding for the first few weeks of the loft conversion, this may be longer depending on what type of loft extension you are having to the loft. There are a number of reasons why a firm will work from the scaffolding in the first few weeks, the first being because they will want to try and keep disruption to the house as minimal as possible when building the loft extension.

Why Scaffolding Must be Used

You should make sure that the builders use scaffolding from the start of your loft conversion as this will mean they won’t have to mess then house up bringing all of the materials through, you should actually insist that the builders do use scaffolding. You should check with the builder when you are getting the quote that they will put up scaffolding, if they say they will not then alarm bells should start ringing as they may not be a qualified builder.Before the scaffolding is removed the floor joints and the steel beams to hold up the loft conversion will need to be installed with the windows last, the roof tiles will also need to be put on the roof before the scaffolding will need to be removed.

The opening for the staircase and the plumbing work will be completed after that.

Getting a Licence for Scaffolding

You will generally not need a licence to put up scaffolding but there can be a few situations were one will be required. If you live above shops or somewhere very public then you may require a licence for public safety reasons and to make sure that the scaffolding will not harm anybody. If you do live in a public area then you may have to get an alarm fitted to the scaffolding I order to comply with safety regulations.

Another consideration is the skip that will need to go outside your house to put all of the rubbish in from the building work. If you do not have parking outside your house then you may have to pay for the skip ton park outside the house, so you may have to take into account the extra cost of placing the skip outside your house if you have to pay for a permit and similar things.

A qualified builder should take care of any safety regulations that will be associated to putting up scaffolding on your property, and will try and make the minimal amount of disruption to your house. A qualified builder will always use scaffolding, so as long as your builder is doing everything by the book there should be no problems.