What Should Homeowners Expect from Their Scaffolding Company?
Whether you are doing your own home improvement or maintenance project, or you have hired a builder to carry out major renovations or an extension, work on your house will probably involve some level of disruption. Not all disruption is inevitable, however, and when it comes to scaffolding, homeowners should expect the scaffolding company involved to work with them to reduce the stresses and strains of the project, even if the scaffolders have been hired by the construction company.
That process starts with understanding what the homeowner needs from the project and what their idea of disruption looks like. A scaffolding company cannot promise to be invisible, but we can promise to listen and take on board what is important to you and work around your requirements as much as possible.
At HD Scaffolding, our team’s 50 years’ experience means that we can often anticipate where those sensitivities will lie and, enabling us to work with both the resident and any construction contractor involved to ensure the scaffolding installation is as smooth and painless as possible. Indeed, we have embedded this philosophy in our operational approach, which has led us to create a Five Point Promise for residential projects.
Our Five Point Promise involves:
1. Communication: from the first visit to site, we communicate clearly and proactively with the homeowner to let you know what will be involved and to understand any concerns you may have. This is important even if the contractual relationship is with the building contractor. It allows you to prepare, moving anything that might be an obstacle, for example, or sorting out alternative parking arrangements. It also allows us to consider what we can do to minimise disruption, such as scheduling work around any access requirements
2. Reliability: We believe you should be able to trust your scaffolding company to arrive on the agreed date, complete installation of the scaffold on time and remove it when we say they will. Our promise ensures that we book work in and offer a reliable service so that you know what to expect.
3. Tidiness: we take pride in leaving a site as neat and tidy as we found it and you should always be able to expect this of a scaffolding company. If we have to move anything to make way for the scaffold, we will put it back where we found it and we will always ensure that there is no litter or debris left behind.
4. Transparency: it is important that a scaffolding company is honest and open about any impact the scaffold may have on the property and the homeowner during the project. For example, the scaffold may sometimes obscure the signal to the TV aerial, which could leave you with no service for the duration of the project. By simply highlighting this, we always ensure that homeowners have the option of arranging to have the aerial moved if necessary before we erect the scaffold.
5. Integrity: Scaffolding is not a luxury or an impulse purchase; it is a safety-critical element to working at height. Consequently, it can be a mistake to look for the lowest quote because the low price may come with reduced safety checks and customer service. Our aim is to offer competitive pricing, but we will never compromise on quality, service, or safety in order to win a job. We believe our commitment to integrity is vital to looking after our customers, including those working on the scaffold and those living in the property.
This Five Point Promise was developed by our team to articulate the level of care, quality, and safety we think customers should expect. We think it also provides a useful checklist for any homeowner considering what to look out for in a scaffolding provider.
