Compliance · 11 min read

Scaffold tags, handover certificates and inspection records: the UK paperwork guide

Every scaffold you put up in the UK generates three pieces of paper: a tag at the access point, a handover certificate signed by the client, and an inspection record renewed at least every seven days. Get them right and a dispute is over in one email. Get them wrong and you are arguing about a scaffold nobody can prove was safe. This guide covers exactly what each document must contain, who signs it, and how long you keep it.

The three documents, at a glance

The legal backbone is the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Regulation 12 for inspection, Schedule 7 for what the inspection report must contain, supported by NASC guidance SG4 and the TG20:21 suite. Tags and handovers are not written into the Regulations word for word; they are the industry's way of evidencing that you complied.

1. Scaffold tags: what a tag must show

A scaffold tag (Scafftag being the best-known brand, though any compliant holder works) is a small weatherproof card fixed at each point where someone can climb onto the scaffold. Its job is to tell an operative in three seconds whether they are allowed on. A usable tag carries:

• Status, safe to use, or do not use. Green front, red reverse is the near-universal convention.
• Scaffolding contractor, company name and contact number.
• Location or reference. Which scaffold this tag belongs to, matching your job number.
• Load class or duty. Light, general or heavy duty, and any bay loading limit.
• Date erected and date of last inspection.
• Inspector's name and signature, plus the date the next inspection falls due.
• Any restrictions, no sheeting, no loading bay, no alteration without authorisation.

The red side goes out the moment the scaffold is incomplete, altered, damaged, or its inspection has lapsed. That includes the day the tag runs past seven days: an out-of-date tag is functionally a red tag, whatever colour is showing.

Tag mistakes that get flagged

• One tag on a scaffold with three ladder accesses, every access point needs one.
• A tag showing an inspection date eleven days ago because nobody was on site.
• Handwriting that has washed off after two weeks of rain.
• No load class stated, then a bricklayer stacking packs of blocks on a light-duty lift.
• Tag left green while another trade has removed a guardrail to get materials in.

2. The handover certificate

The handover certificate is the single most valuable piece of paper you issue. It marks the moment the scaffold passes from your control into the client's use, and it fixes in writing what you supplied and on what terms. If a scaffold is later found altered, overloaded or missing a board, the handover is what separates your liability from everyone else's.

A complete handover certificate contains:

• Site address and a clear description or reference of the scaffold handed over.
• Scaffolding contractor's name, address and contact.
• Client or principal contractor's name.
• Date and time of handover.
• Type of scaffold. Independent tied, birdcage, chimney, truss-out, temporary roof.
• Design basis. TG20:21 compliant with the compliance sheet reference, or bespoke design with the drawing and calculation numbers.
• Load class and maximum permitted loading per bay per lift.
• Number of lifts, working platform heights, and permitted use of each.
• Inclusions. Guardrails, toe boards, brick guards, netting, sheeting, ladder access, loading bays.
• Exclusions and conditions, no unauthorised alteration, no additional sheeting, ties not to be removed.
• Hire period and the date the client must notify you for extension or dismantle.
• Statement that the scaffold has been inspected and is safe for the stated use.
• Signature, printed name and role of the scaffolder's competent person.
• Signature, printed name and role of the person accepting on behalf of the client.

The clause that earns its keep is the alteration clause: "This scaffold must not be altered, added to, or partially dismantled by anyone other than a competent scaffolder employed by the scaffolding contractor. Any unauthorised alteration invalidates this certificate." Put it in bold. It is the line you will point at.

3. Statutory inspections and the 7-day rule

Under Regulation 12 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, a scaffold from which a person could fall more than two metres must be inspected:

• Before it is used for the first time.
• At intervals not exceeding seven days for as long as it stays up.
• After any alteration, addition or partial dismantle.
• After any event likely to have affected its stability. High winds, heavy rain, flooding, ground movement, a vehicle strike.

Inspections must be carried out by a competent person, which in practice means an appropriately carded scaffolder or scaffolding supervisor with the training and experience for that scaffold type. The person inspecting must be independent enough to report defects honestly.

What the inspection record must contain

Schedule 7 sets the minimum content:

• Name and address of the person the inspection was carried out for.
• Location of the work equipment inspected.
• Description of the work equipment.
• Date and time of the inspection.
• Details of any matter identified that could give rise to a risk to health or safety.
• Details of any action taken as a result.
• Details of any further action considered necessary.
• Name and position of the person making the report.

A practical checklist to work through on each visit: foundations and sole boards; base plates and standards plumb; ledgers and transoms level and secure; bracing complete; tie pattern intact and correct for the scaffold's exposure and any sheeting or netting (see our TG20:21 compliance guide for tie patterns and load classes); boards fully supported with no traps or damage; guardrails and toe boards at every open edge; ladder access secured and extended above the platform; no unauthorised alterations; tag updated.

The report must be completed within 24 hours and provided to the person it was carried out for. Keep the record on site until the work is done, then keep it at your office for at least three months. Most contractors keep the full job pack, quote, compliance sheet, handover, all inspections, dismantle note, for six years.

4. Who is actually responsible

This is where money is lost. The duty to inspect sits with the employer of the people using the scaffold, or the person in control of the work, usually the principal contractor on a commercial site. But the scaffolding contractor is the one with the competence, so in the overwhelming majority of cases the inspection regime is bought as part of the hire.

• If your quote includes weekly inspections, price them. Four site visits a month at an hour plus travel is real cost, typically £40–£80 per visit.
• If it does not, say so explicitly on the quote and the handover, so the client knows the duty is theirs from the moment they sign.
• On domestic work, the homeowner is rarely a competent person, so assume the inspections are yours and charge accordingly.

Whichever way you go, it must be the same on the quote, the handover and the invoice. Our scaffolding quote template shows where the inspection line sits.

Worked example: a domestic re-roof

Three-bedroom semi, full re-roof, independent tied scaffold to the rear and one gable, two lifts, six-week hire. Here is the whole paper trail.

Nine documents on a job worth around £1,400. That is why paperwork is the second biggest time sink in a small scaffolding firm after chasing payment, and why doing it from a template beats doing it from scratch every time.

Five paperwork mistakes that cost scaffolders money

1. No countersigned handover. The client alters the scaffold, someone gets hurt, and with nothing signed you are arguing about what you supplied. Get a signature, even a photo of one on a phone.
2. Inspections drifting past seven days. One missed week and every day after it is an unlawful scaffold in use. Diary them the day you erect.
3. Free inspections. Six weeks of "just popping by" is six unpaid site visits. It belongs as a priced line, not goodwill.
4. No load class on the tag or handover. Without a stated duty, any overloading argument starts from a bad position.
5. Paperwork that does not match the quote. A handover listing netting you never quoted for is a free variation you will not get paid for.

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