Scaffold Inspections for UK Trades — The 7-Day Rule, Tags and Who Can Sign Off (2026)

The Law — Work at Height Regulations 2005

The core legal duty sits in the Work at Height Regulations 2005. These require that any work platform — and a scaffold is a work platform — is inspected by a competent person before it is first used, and at regular intervals after that. Scaffolding is also caught by the wider requirement that it be erected, altered and dismantled only by people who are competent to do so. More complex scaffolds (anything outside a standard configuration) need a bespoke design from a competent designer before they go up.

Alongside the regulations sits the industry guidance everyone in the trade works to. The National Access & Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) publishes TG20 — the technical guidance for tube-and-fitting scaffolds — and SG4, the safe-working-at-height guidance for scaffolders. When the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) turns up after an incident, these are the benchmarks a scaffold gets measured against. As a trade working off someone else's scaffold, you don't need to know TG20 inside out, but you do need to know that a compliant scaffold should have been designed, erected and inspected to a recognised standard.

When Must a Scaffold Be Inspected?

There are three inspection triggers under the Work at Height Regulations, and as a trade you should treat all three as your business. The big two — the 7-day rule and the after-bad-weather rule — are the ones that catch people out, because trades routinely turn up to a scaffold that has been sitting through a storm or has been standing for a fortnight while another trade was on site.

• Before first use: after it is erected (or substantially altered), before anyone works off it for the first time.
• At intervals not exceeding every 7 days: for as long as the scaffold remains in place and in use.
• After any event likely to have affected its stability: high winds and severe weather, an impact such as a vehicle strike, or after a substantial alteration to the structure.

The 7-day rule is not "roughly once a week" — it is a hard ceiling. If the last inspection date on the tag is eight days ago, that scaffold is overdue and should not be used until it is re-inspected. The after-weather rule matters just as much: a scaffold that looked perfect on Friday can have shifted ties, moved boards or sunk base plates after a weekend of gales. Walking back on a Monday morning without a fresh inspection is exactly the gap where accidents happen.

The Inspection Report

Where a person could fall 2 metres or more — which covers virtually every scaffold a roofer, bricklayer or window fitter works off — a written inspection report must be completed by the competent person who carried out the inspection. This is not a tick-box afterthought; it is the legal record that the inspection happened and what it found.

The report records the date and time of the inspection, the name and position of the person who carried it out, the location and description of the scaffold, the result of the inspection, and any defects found together with the action taken or needed. As a general rule the report must be completed before the end of the working period in which the inspection took place, and a copy kept on site while the scaffold is in use. Reports are then kept for a set period after the work is finished. As a trade, you are entitled to ask to see the current report — if no one can produce one, treat that as a warning sign.

Scaffold Tags (Scafftag and Similar)

Most well-run sites use a scaffold tagging system — Scafftag is the best-known brand, but several equivalents exist. A holder is fixed at every access point onto the scaffold (the ladder bay, the foot of a stair tower) carrying a tag that shows, at a glance, whether the scaffold is safe to climb on. The tag records the date of the last inspection and the name of the inspector, and is colour-coded so anyone arriving on site can read its status in seconds.

The practical rule for any trade is simple and not negotiable: no tag, or a red / incomplete tag, means do not get on it. A green tag tells you the scaffold has been inspected and is currently signed off as safe to use. A red tag, a blank holder, or a missing tag tells you it is incomplete, under construction, failed inspection, or simply unverified — and you stop, stay off, and report it. The tag does not replace the legal inspection or the written report; it is the on-site signal of their status. But for the person about to climb a ladder, that signal is the fastest safety check you have.

Who Is Competent to Inspect?

A scaffold inspection must be carried out by a competent person — someone with the knowledge, training and experience appropriate to the type and complexity of the scaffold in front of them. Competence is the legal test, not job title and not who happens to be available. For a standard, basic scaffold, a suitably trained competent person may be able to inspect. For a complex or designed scaffold, a higher level of competence is required.

In practice, scaffold inspection is usually done by a CISRS-qualified scaffolder or scaffold inspector (the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme is the recognised UK card scheme), or a trained competent person where the scaffold is basic enough to allow it. The key point for a small trade business is this: the inspector must be genuinely competent for that scaffold, not just nominated on a form to satisfy paperwork. If you are running your own job and using a scaffold, make sure whoever inspects it actually has the right training — and if you are not sure your own people are competent, get the scaffolding firm back to do it.

What Gets Checked

A proper inspection runs from the ground up. You don't need to be the inspector to know roughly what good looks like — a quick visual scan against this list before you climb on can catch obvious problems even when a tag says "safe".

• Foundations: base plates and sole boards sitting on firm, level ground — not sinking, not on loose soil or a bin lid.
• Standards, ledgers and transoms: all present, vertical, level and properly connected — nothing bent, slipped or missing.
• Bracing: in place to keep the structure rigid — no missing diagonals or facade braces.
• Ties: tied back to the building at the correct spacing — ties are what stops a scaffold pulling away from the wall.
• Boards: fully decked out (no gaps), not split, warped or damaged, and properly supported.
• Guardrails and toe boards: double guardrails fitted, toe boards and brick guards in place to stop people and materials falling.
• Safe access: a proper ladder, ladder bay or stair tower — not climbing up the frame.
• No missing components and no overloading: no removed fittings, and materials not stacked beyond the platform's rated load.
• Not altered by other trades: the scaffold is in the state the scaffolder signed off, not modified to suit someone's job.

That last point is the one trades get wrong most often. No one should ever remove ties, boards or guardrails to get their work done and leave the scaffold altered. Taking out a guardrail to lift a window in, or pulling a tie to render behind it, turns a safe scaffold into a death trap for the next person on — and it is exactly the kind of unauthorised alteration that requires a fresh inspection before anyone uses it again.

What It Means for a Small Trade Business

You are not expected to be a scaffolding company. But you are responsible for not putting yourself or your team on an unsafe platform, and the HSE will hold you to that. Build these habits into every job:

• Before you climb on, check for a valid tag showing a recent inspection (within 7 days) — and ask to see the inspection report if you have any doubt.
• Do your own quick visual check against the list above, even when the tag is green.
• Never use a scaffold that is incomplete, untagged, red-tagged or modified.
• Never alter a scaffold yourself — if it doesn't suit your work, get the scaffolding firm back to change it properly and re-inspect it.
• Report defects and stop work if you spot something unsafe — a missing tie, a sunk base plate, a removed guardrail.
• Keep your own records if you are the one in control of the scaffold (for example, if you hired it directly) — including who inspected it and when.

None of this slows a job down meaningfully. A tag check and a visual scan take a couple of minutes. The cost of getting it wrong — a fall, an HSE investigation, a prosecution, or worse — is measured in lives and in your business being shut down.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often must a scaffold be inspected?

At least every 7 days while it remains erected and in use, before it is first used after being put up or substantially altered, and after any event likely to affect its stability — most commonly bad weather such as high winds or storms, but also an impact like a vehicle strike. The 7-day figure is a maximum interval, not a target: once it is exceeded, the scaffold should not be used until it has been re-inspected.

Can I use a scaffold without a tag?

Treat no tag — or a red or incomplete tag — as a clear instruction not to get on it. A missing or red tag means the scaffold is unverified, incomplete, under construction or has failed inspection. Stay off it, and report it to the site contact or scaffolding firm. A green tag with a recent inspection date is what you want to see before you climb on, and even then a quick visual check of your own is sensible.

Who is allowed to inspect a scaffold?

A competent person — someone with the knowledge, training and experience appropriate to that scaffold's type and complexity. For complex or designed scaffolds that means a suitably qualified scaffold inspector, often CISRS-carded. For basic scaffolds a trained competent person may be sufficient. The test is genuine competence for the job, not simply being named on a form, so if you are in any doubt about your own people, bring the scaffolding contractor back to inspect.