Ties
What is a tie test?
A tie test is a pull test on an installed anchor tie, confirming the fixing achieves the load the design assumes before the scaffold relies on it.
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<figure>
<img src="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/tie-test/diagram.svg" alt="tie test — scaffold diagram from ScaffoldOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
<figcaption>
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/tie-test">What is a tie test?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk">ScaffoldOptix</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>An anchor is only as good as what it is fixed into, and that cannot be established by looking at it. Testing applies a load to the installed anchor and records whether it holds.
Testing is normally done on a proportion of the anchors rather than all of them, with the sample and the test load set by the design. A failed test is information about the substrate, not just about that anchor.
The results are records. An untested anchor and a tested one look identical on site, so the evidence is the only thing distinguishing them a year later.
What goes wrong on site
- Anchors installed and relied on without any testing.
- Test results recorded on paper that does not stay with the structure.
- A failure treated as a one-off rather than as a question about the whole elevation.