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ScaffoldOptixScaffolding software

Refurbishment

Scaffolding software for refurbishment work.

A building nobody fully surveyed, and a scaffold that has to tie to it anyway.

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Refurbishment is where scaffolding stops being arithmetic. The building already exists, which sounds like an advantage and is the opposite: nobody knows exactly what is behind the render, the facade is not square, and the thing you need to tie into may not be capable of taking a tie at all.

That turns the tie pattern into the central question of the job rather than a detail of it. On a new build the structure you are tying to was designed to be tied to. On a refurbishment it was built in 1890 by somebody with other priorities, and what the drawing says and what the tie test says are two different pieces of information.

Everything else follows from that uncertainty. Quotes are given on incomplete information, configurations change once the scaffold is up and the real building is visible, and the adaptation that was not foreseen becomes a variation nobody priced. The job is managing change rather than executing a plan.

The records

What refurbishment scaffolding are answerable for

  • Project and site register, with every structure on each
  • The compliance sheet or bespoke design each structure was built to
  • Quotes from the material list the design produced, and repriced variations
  • Handover certificates and tag status per structure
  • Post-alteration inspection records as the structure changes
  • CISRS card, medical and training expiry per operative

The problem

What makes this hard for refurbishment scaffolding

  • The building is not what the survey said

    Render hides substrate, elevations are not square, and the first time anybody knows what they are tying into is when they try. The configuration that was priced is often not the configuration that gets built.

  • Ties are a question, not a given

    An existing facade may not take the tie pattern a standard arrangement assumes, and finding that out moves the job from a compliance sheet towards a designer. That boundary needs to be visible while the job is still being planned.

  • Adaptation is the normal state

    Occupied buildings, phased work and trades discovering problems mean the scaffold changes repeatedly. Each change is a handover, a tag update and an inspection record.

  • Variations that were never quoted

    Extra returns, additional lifts, protection that became necessary once the facade was exposed. Priced on the spot or not at all, and disputed at the end.

  • Working around occupants

    Refurbishment often happens around people still using the building, which constrains access, sequence and what can be left standing overnight.

The answer

How ScaffoldOptix helps

  • Ties are a question, not a given

    Modelling the configuration in three dimensions puts the arrangement in front of somebody before the wagon is loaded, which is when the boundary between a compliance sheet and a designer is cheapest to discover.

    3D scaffold design

  • Adaptation is the normal state

    Inspections and adaptations are held against the structure, so a scaffold that has changed five times has five records rather than a tag nobody has updated.

    Inspections and adaptations

  • Variations that were never quoted

    A variation is quoted from the material list of the configuration that was actually built, against your rate card, so the arithmetic is the same as the original quote's.

    Estimating and quoting

  • The building is not what the survey said

    The compliance sheet or bespoke design a structure was built to is recorded against it, so what was assumed and what was built are both on the record rather than only the first.

    Handovers and certificates

  • Working around occupants

    Projects and sites hold the structures and the squads on them, so a phased job is scheduled against a record rather than negotiated every morning.

    Projects and sites

Who it is for

The people doing this job

Questions

What refurbishment scaffolding ask

Can it tell us whether a tie pattern will work?
No, and nothing should claim to. A model produces a material list for the configuration you describe; whether that configuration is adequate for that building is a question for the compliance sheet or a competent designer. What the model usefully does is make an unusual arrangement obvious early.
Does it generate a bespoke design?
No. Bespoke designs and structural calculations are the work of a competent designer. ScaffoldOptix records which design a structure was built to; treat any product claiming otherwise with suspicion.
How are variations handled?
A variation is quoted the same way the original was — from the material list the configuration produced, against your own sell rates. It stays a quote; there is no invoicing in the product.
Can we hold the RAMS and design brief?
The compliance sheet or bespoke design a structure was built to is held against the structure. Check at a demo exactly which documents you can attach, rather than assuming everything in your current folder has a home.
Does it do CAD?
No. It models configurations and outputs drawings and elevations. It is not a CAD authoring or BIM tool.

Keep reading

A record of what was built, not what was assumed

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14 days free access · no card needed