Dimensions
What is a lift?
A lift is the vertical distance between ledger levels on a scaffold — effectively one storey of the scaffold. Lift heights set where the working platforms can go and how the standards are restrained up their length.
Use this diagram+
Free to use on your own site, in training material or in a course handout, as long as the credit link stays on it. Paste this where you want the diagram to appear.
<figure>
<img src="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/lift/diagram.svg" alt="lift — scaffold diagram from ScaffoldOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
<figcaption>
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/lift">What is a lift?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk">ScaffoldOptix</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>Scaffolds are built in lifts, and the lift height is the vertical spacing between one set of ledgers and the next. It determines how often the standards are tied back into the structure of the scaffold, which is part of what stops them buckling.
Lift heights are also a working decision. The platform needs to be at a height where the work can actually be done — bricklayers work to a comfortable lift, and a platform set too low or too high costs time on every course.
A base lift is often set differently from the lifts above it, to get the first platform to a usable height or to clear an obstruction at ground level.
What goes wrong on site
- Lift heights increased on site to save a lift of material, taking the scaffold outside the configuration it was supposed to be built to.
- Platforms positioned for the scaffold rather than for the work, so the squad using it is reaching or stooping all day.
- Inconsistent lift heights across a run of scaffold, which makes boarding and access awkward and complicates any later adaptation.