Scaffold types
What is a suspended scaffold?
A suspended scaffold hangs from above on ropes or rigid supports rather than standing on the ground, giving access to a facade from a cradle or platform.
Use this diagram+
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<img src="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/suspended-scaffold/diagram.svg" alt="suspended scaffold — scaffold diagram from ScaffoldOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
<figcaption>
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/suspended-scaffold">What is a suspended scaffold?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk">ScaffoldOptix</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>The load goes upward into the building rather than downward into the ground, which makes the suspension rigging the whole structure as far as safety is concerned.
Rope-suspended platforms are explicitly outside the scope of BS EN 12811, and are covered by their own standards and by lifting equipment regulation where powered.
It is a specialist arrangement rather than a variant of an ordinary scaffold, and treating it as the latter is how it goes wrong.
What goes wrong on site
- Treated as a scaffolding job rather than a specialist suspended access one.
- Roof anchorage assumed rather than designed and tested.
- Powered platforms maintained as scaffold rather than as lifting equipment.