11 Jan Will my roofing work require scaffolding?

We were recently contacted by a homeowner who had received a quote from another roofer to replace the mortar on a gable wall that had cracked over time, causing an internal leak.

His quote was in the region of £700, with £300 of that cost to rent scaffolding, and he wanted to know whether the roofer was trying to rip him off.

Our answer to him, based on the job, was that scaffolding was not needed and he was right to ask us about it. So why did the other roofer say he needed scaffolding?

Contrary to our customer’s first thought, the roofer was not trying to rip him off.

The roofer will have simply assessed the job from a health and safety point of view and decided that to keep him and his employees safe, scaffolding was needed.

The Work at Height regulations 2005 stipulate that one must take precautions to prevent a fall. Prevention methods include scaffolding, but they can also be a harness and handrails around the roof. Plenty of roofers will be happy to carry out minor repairs to a roof using a ladder and a harness. But by the same token, many roofers will not.

Whether or not your roofing work requires scaffolding really depends on the nature of the job. If there is any risk of danger to a roofer, and a ladder is not enough to guarantee safety, then scaffolding may be advised in line with health and safety. For example, if a ladder cannot be safely grounded because of an uneven surface, then scaffolding will be needed.

When we assess roofing work, we will look at the job from a health and safety point of view, before we give you a quote. It’s important to remember that above all else, the safety of our workers is of paramount importance to us.

If ladders and harnesses are not enough to keep us safe, then we will choose scaffolding.

Unfortunately, like most roofing companies, we don’t own our own scaffolding so we have to rent it from somebody else. This cost will then be built into your quote, but don’t worry, we don’t make a profit on this – we simply need to cover our costs.

So will your roofing work require scaffolding? The best way to find out is to give us a call on 0113 293 4038, so that we can visit you and ascertain the full scale of your roofing job.