I've just had a scaffold erected at my house, solar panels being installed on Friday, and would like a scaffold expert to see a picture of the scaffold and give a view? Anyone willing please pm me and I'll send my email addy then the picture. It's a shame we can't put photos on the forum? Thanks

John, Is that really the scaffold or are you taking the mickey? I'm NOT an expert, but it looks barely OK to me, & I mean BARELY. I would want a competent second opinion, not mine. ;) FS101, Is that roof south facing? What size system are you having installed? Ensure that it is done to BS7671 & the REAL requirements etc. Ensure that the feed in from the inverters is at the origin and is "upstream" from ALL final circuit protective devices. IF you come back to me quickly I can get any info run past some good colleagues of mine to get the proposal validated, if you are paying and you want to ensure you get value for money. IF you want clarification, you know how to get me.

Carl, Scaff is THE way to install solar PV, however, the scaff MUSTbe right!

Firstly thank you John for putting the picture on your site and making it available to all. Secondly thanks for the input everyone. The company installing the panels is "XXX" and they provide them absolutely free. They do the install, maintenance and everything for 25 years. What they get out of it is a large government subsidy and the electricity I can't use goes to the Grid and they get the money for that. What I get is Solar panels, free electricity during day times and the panels monitored and repaired when necessary at no cost to myself. There is lot more to it but I won't go on a sales pitch here, suffice to say if anyone wishes to ask me more just pm me. If I refer there is monetary reward to me and to whoever I recommend. The workers are employed by XXX and they install thousands every week, not surprising since they are free. If you all don't mind I might contact the company with your views and see how they react. Paul, Hi, I believe the system will be up to current required standards, they are a reputable company, been on Watch Dog and and the Money Supermarket chap says they are OK. The Sky dish does not receive a signal through the boards but thankfully we have Sky Go and iPads with apple TV so I can still get the footy on Saturday.

Edited by moderator 07 March 2014 12:09:25(UTC)  | Reason: remove company name

Hello Everybody. Being a Scaffolder to Trade before getting into the Safety Game, the points noted by others are valid, however looking at the structure from the picture - The Scaffold has a few points that need rectified. 1. The standards have been placed onto the Roof - looking at the picture, I do hope the roof can take the height as the Tiles may get smashed or a possible roof collaspe - believe me it does happen. Usually in these cases the Roof could have been bridged with Beams to avoid any dodgy Roof work. 2. Access / Egress - Look at the ladder point where the ladder gate is - it is not thought through by having a ladder positioned at a angle on the roof to gain access. Have a chat with next door on the Right of the picture to see if a ladder could be placed in their garden leading up to the working platform. 3. Look at the Bay size to your left - The bay in question is to large - the maxium for a General Duty Scaffold Bay Size is 8ft - tell the contractor to put in 2 extra standards. 4.A few mentioned Toeboards in the other replys - Ensure that Toeboards are secured Twice by Singles, no matter on what the size of the Board is. 5. A few replies mentioned it is not Tied to the Building - There is no need on this occassion as it has been Rakered to the ground - See the big tubes at each side of the scaffold running at a angle. 6. Also someone mentioned Baseplates - Only on Flat surfaces, not on Roofs. Its easy to sit here and Rip the job apart but remember the Scaffold in question is one of the better ones that are being used and erected on domestic properties that I witness when walking down the street.

Allan thanks for your input, I just spoke to the scaffold company director who appreciates my concerns, followed by an email including pictures and a few of the concerns already received. If you don't mind I'd like to send your comments, no names will be mentioned and I will state they are only opinions based on looking at the picture. You do have some positive comments, that's what I like to see, I shall include them also. Again many thanks for everyone's comments. Cheers

Hello All John W - I understand your concerns, the Rakers will take the strain, however I am more concerned about the Roof collapsing due the weight - as mentioned before the common method in these types of scenerios is bridgeing with Beams. Scaffolders try to avoid using Ties in this situation due to the damage done on domestic property and also to avoid this further they use the Butting method during the erection, were the transoms are butted into the brickwork. Fire Safety - Please by all means use the comments provided earlier to enfore your msg - remember the access and egress issues that I mentioned as you do not more height and operatives standing on that Roof. Let us all know how it went. Thank You. Allan

Well here is how it went : email received from the scaffold company at 1553hrs. Hi Mr Burns Thank you for sending the photos in. After looking at the photo's I agree with some of the points made. I'm arranging for a team to come out and make alterations to this job. A team will be with you today. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention. I will also be sending the team on a refresher course (COCS) as this is not the quality of work we expect from out teams. A warning will be given to the team leader as well. Thank you again XXXX I would say this is an excellent result and thank you all for assisting. Pats on the backs all round and have a drink on me this evening. You should all be very proud of yourselves. I'll send another picture to John for tomorrow if that's all right John? What a great forum this is. I laughed out loud when I read the email. That's the scaffolders sorted now for the installation team tomorrow. Watch this space ha ha ha ha.

Edited by moderator 07 March 2014 12:11:08(UTC)  | Reason: Remove person's name

Carl, I have used MEWP's quite a lot, personally for many jobs, I mean actually as an operator, one of the issues with fitting solar from a MEWP is the knuckle under the bucket preventing the required access close enough to the roof. The obvious access issues, the last MEWP I used was 19t on the road to get the reach, they do tend to have a lot of body centred mass to make them stable. You are handling large sails up on to the roof, the panels, so, the hand rails around the MEWP are restrictive, the requirement for the lanyard restricts your access to the roof from the basket, you can't leave the basket as there is no protection for you. The getting of the equipment from floor to roof with a MEWP would be a lot of operations, noise in a housing/domestic environment from the engine, yes I realise that you can get battery versions which are silent. Transport of the MEWP from site to site, typically a solar install is a single day. The scaff is installed in advance, as here, the installers turn up, do their stuff, then go, then the scaffolders come back and remove. Storing a MEWP @ a private dwelling for a few days, possibly a week or even more would be an issue. Also HSE / Industry guidance is Scaff! ;) etc. etc. Seriously, I am a MEWP fan, I feel safer and prefer working from a MEWP, than I do a ladder, no matter what. I have had a large 4WD Haulotte platform as I say 19t on the road, I can't remember the model, with the boom vertical, no worries at all, felt as safe as I do on the floor, in fact, I actually enjoy working from MEWPs. However, they are not the tool for pitched roof solar PV installs.

Firesafety -please sent in a photo of the finished product and the alterations done to the Scaffold please. Thank You.

I had a slap on the wrist from the Mods for advertising so have tried to keep the company name out of the view but will send it to John for him to put it up, thanks again John. The roofers were very please to see the scaffold today, never that good they said, thanks to you all for your help.

Surely the details in the link is advertising too - a consultancy. Jon

Don't worry Jon, no new business was gained as a result of assisting this forum thread :o)

Certainly got a result there FS! The scaffold is now on a much better footing on the ground (though we can't see it), access to the gate is better, bays look the correct width now, complete toe-boarding. I'm still worried about the weight taken by the tiles though, but overall much safer than before! John

Just one house in our street has had panels fitted. Apart from looking ugly (upsetting folks across the road!) neighbour said there might be some issues later as the deal requires you to 'sign up' for a 25-year commitment, the supplier might go bust and the government might changes its policy. John

Ah FS, an Everton fan? Been to Goodison a few times years ago, to see Coventry, but the last time was 2012 when our son-in-law was in his last professional year and played for Tamworth, lost 2-0 in the cup to Everton. Phil Neville gave our lad a hard time and Fellaini fouled him :) John

Thanks Paul for your comments @17. Yes I can can understand access to a sloping roof is probably not ideal from a MEWP although the knuckle of the boom wouldn't in most cases be a limiting factor as they are generally no lower than the bottom of the basket. Getting the machine into position is an issue although some of the spiderlifts can fit through a standard doorway and still have a 17m working height. Regarding lanyards, do these guys use harnesses and lanyards when on the roof? On balance though I would expect a scaff would be a better option, the reworked version that is. I hope this isn't a one off and they revert to the original setup for their next job.

Jon, I agree that advertising should not be permitted on the forum. The point is I was not advertising my business, I have only posted an image, and there is in effect no direct link to the main website. To find my website proper one has to chop the link or cut and paste to find it, and who would bother when all we are doing is helping out Chris' contractors. The scaffolders have, eventually, shown they can do a proper job so I would not avoid them if they were local to me. John

if it is BG please Pm me

Rodger, your point on lack of management is very important. In #8 I did ask what the scaffold inspection checklist said..... if such an inspection was documented then it would ask things like 'are the bays correct width', 'are toeboards complete', 'is ladder access safe' etc etc. Ideally a supervisor should document the inspection, and when the inspection is satisfactory then there should be a handover certificate which FS or the contractor should hold on to. And now that the scaffold has been modified there should be a new handover certificate. I don't get involved with 'domestic' scaffold work but I expect this lack of management and documentation is common. John