Scaffold tags and handover certificates: what they mean
A handover certificate is the scaffolder's signed record that a scaffold has been built and checked, and a scaffold tag is a label showing its latest inspection. Tags are industry practice, not law, and the regulations do not mention handover certificates. The law does require inspection by a competent person before first use, every 7 days after that where a person could fall 2 metres or more, and after anything that could affect safety.
What a handover certificate is
A scaffolding contractor can hand a finished scaffold over with a signed certificate. The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC), the scaffolding trade body, sells handover certificate pads and describes the certificate as recording the scaffold's location and description, how it complies, confirmation of inspection and signatures, and as the formal transfer of responsibility from the contractor to the customer. NASC also publishes guidance, SG35, on handing a scaffold over and on the first inspection.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 do not mention handover certificates, and neither do the HSE pages listed below. HSE puts the responsibility for making sure scaffolding is inspected on the scaffold user or hirer, so a certificate does not end your checking. Before you sign, make sure you know:
- the address, a description of the scaffold and the date of handover;
- how it complies: HSE says a scaffold must follow a recognised standard configuration, such as NASC TG20 or the maker's instructions for a system scaffold, or be designed by calculation;
- what load it is rated for: HSE says to assume general purpose, up to 200 kg per m2, unless the provider says otherwise;
- where the assembly, use and dismantling plan is kept: HSE says a copy must stay available to anyone involved until the scaffold is dismantled.
Scaffold tags
A scaffold tag is a label fixed to the scaffold to show it has been checked. HSE says plainly that tag systems are not a legal requirement. It adds that a visible tag system, used alongside the inspection reports, is a useful way of letting everyone who needs the scaffold know it has been inspected and is safe to use.
A common set-up is a green tag for safe to use and a red tag for do not use. None of the regulations or HSE pages listed below fixes the colours or the wording, so ask the scaffolding contractor what each tag means on your job. HSE also says that while a scaffold is not available for use, including during assembly, dismantling or alteration, it should carry general warning signs and be blocked off physically.
A tag does not replace the written report. If a tag is missing, red or out of date, stop and ask before anyone uses the scaffold.
What the law requires: inspections
Regulation 12 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 covers inspection of work equipment, scaffolds included. An employer must make sure:
- equipment whose safety depends on how it is assembled is not used until it has been inspected in that position;
- a working platform used for construction work, from which a person could fall 2 metres or more, is not used in any position unless it was inspected there within the previous 7 days;
- equipment is inspected each time exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise its safety occur. HSE gives high winds and substantial alteration as examples.
The inspection must be by a competent person. HSE says a site manager who has done a scaffold inspection course could be competent to inspect a basic scaffold. A tower scaffold is inspected after assembly and every 7 days on the same terms, and again if it is reassembled rather than just moved (HSE information sheet CIS47). Stop work if an inspection shows it is not safe to continue.
The inspection report
The person who inspects a working platform of this kind must write a report before the end of the working period in which the inspection is completed, and give it to the person the inspection was carried out for within 24 hours. Schedule 7 lists what it must contain:
- the name and address of the person the inspection was for;
- the location and a description of the equipment, and the date and time of the inspection;
- any matter that could put someone at risk, what was done about it, and any further action considered necessary;
- the name and position of the person making the report.
The employer who receives the report keeps it, or a copy, at the site until the construction work is finished, then at an office for 3 months. HSE's CIS47 has a suggested report form, which you need not use if your record has the same information. Make sure what the scaffolder gives you at handover carries these details, or ask for a report that does.
Running it on site
Agree with the scaffolding contractor how they hand over, who inspects every 7 days and after bad weather, and what the tags mean. Put the scaffold and its checks in your RAMS, brief everyone in a toolbox talk, and file each report. Our guide to scaffold inspections covers who may inspect.
Sources
- HSE: Scaffolds
- HSE: Scaffolding (FAQ)
- HSE: Construction, work at height (FAQ)
- HSE: Inspection and reports, CIS47 (PDF)
- legislation.gov.uk: Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 12
- legislation.gov.uk: Work at Height Regulations 2005, Schedule 7
- NASC (scaffolding trade body): Handover certificate pads
- NASC (scaffolding trade body): SG35:21 handover of scaffold structures and first inspection