Do you need to paint the outside of a sizeable structure with many floors and a significant footprint? If so, you will need to provide a safe and productive work environment for the contractors, which will almost always mean scaffolding. Clearly, with safety to the fore, you must ensure that this temporary structure is well designed and installed and need to take into account several industry standards, including dead load, live load and snow (or environmental) load. What are these, and what else do you need to think about?
Safety First at All Times
Any scaffold structure must be built according to industry standards and fit for the purpose. Therefore, it's important to calculate how much weight it will be able to bear. This must be assessed in several different ways, starting with the dead load.
Dead Load
Dead load refers to the weight of the scaffolding itself once it is in place and fully secured. This will include all the structural components, platforms, sheeting, hoists, suspension cables and toe boards (edge protection).
Live Load
Next, you need to consider the live load, sometimes referred to as "temporary," which can be further broken down into several categories, such as special, medium or light. Again, this can be tricky to calculate because it includes all the materials (bricks, blocks, buckets of paint, etc.) and the individual workers.
When the work is classified as light duty, the associated weight will still need to be uniformly distributed so that there is never any intense load on a particular point. These calculations can vary according to light, medium or heavy-duty, but there will always be a maximum, which can never be exceeded.
Snow and Environmental Load
Snow load refers to any environmental elements that may affect the scaffold's performance. Clearly, heavy snowfall could add weight to the structure. Also, other environmental loads could come into question, including strong winds, especially from a certain direction.
Other Considerations
It's important to remember that the scaffolding can never be used as part of a system to hoist items of plant, equipment or other materials unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose.
Bring in the Experts
As you can see, there's a lot involved in erecting and maintaining a scaffolding structure. This is why it's important to work with experienced contractors who will know what they are doing. So, get in touch with such a contractor for more information about scaffolding.
