Solar Panel Scaffolding

Scaffolding for solar panels: homes, farms, commercial roofs and installers

A solar installation is a day or two on the roof, but it is not a short job in the eyes of the law, and it is not a job for ladders. Panels are big, awkward and catch the wind; the roof edge is two storeys up; and the installer is working along the eaves with both hands full. We put up solar scaffolds across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and south Northamptonshire, for homeowners, farms and businesses, and for the installers who need a scaffold up the day before and down the day after.

What a solar panel scaffold actually is

A solar scaffold is mostly edge protection: a working platform at the eaves of the roof slope the panels are going on, with guardrails that stop anyone, or anything, going over the edge. HSE and CITB guidance for solar installation sets out what it should be:

• A boarded platform at the eaves, with a main guardrail, an intermediate guardrail and toe boards.
• Along the whole slope being worked on, and extending at least 2 metres beyond each end of the panel array.
• Gable-end protection where the array is within 2 metres of the gable, so nobody can fall off the side of the roof.
• Debris netting where materials could fall on the occupiers, neighbours or the public.
• Safe access — a tied ladder with a gate, or a stair tower — and a way of getting the panels up that does not involve carrying them up a ladder.
• Erected, altered and dismantled by trained scaffolders, and inspected before first use, weekly, and after anything that could affect it.

That last point matters. Guidance on solar work is unusually direct that panel installation is not short-duration work, and that it will need scaffolding or equivalent edge protection. CITB guidance notes that unsafe work at height like this would normally lead to immediate enforcement action by HSE inspectors.

Getting the panels onto the roof

A modern domestic panel is around 1.7 to 2 metres long and over 20 kilograms, and it behaves like a sail in any breeze. Carrying one up a ladder is the most dangerous single thing on a solar job, and the scaffold should be designed so that nobody has to.

• A loading point on the scaffold, at the end nearest where the panels are delivered, boarded and guarded for panels to be landed and stored flat.
• A hoist position — a gin wheel or a powered ladder hoist — so panels go up mechanically, with the landing protected by a gate rather than an open gap in the guardrail.
• Panels stored flat and secured on the platform, never leant against the guardrails, and not left loose overnight.

We agree the delivery side and the lifting method with the installer before we build, so the loading point is where the van will actually be.

Solar scaffolding by roof type

Domestic installations

Most solar jobs are on houses: a single slope, usually the south, south-east or south-west roof, with eight to sixteen panels. The scaffold runs the length of that eaves, two metres beyond the array at each end, with a return round the gable if the array comes close to it. On a semi or a terrace, the two-metre extension can run past the party wall line, in which case the scaffold may need to stand in front of the neighbour’s house, and that needs their agreement. If the scaffold stands on a public pavement it needs a highway licence; we apply for it and build the council’s notice period into the date.

Bungalows, extensions and garage roofs

A low roof does not mean no edge protection. The Work at Height Regulations apply wherever a fall could cause injury, and a fall from a bungalow eaves onto a patio is a serious injury. Low-level edge protection is quick to put up and cheap; it is not worth doing without.

Farm and agricultural roofs

Solar on barn roofs is common across rural Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and it is where solar work is most dangerous. Many agricultural roofs are fibre-cement sheeting, and many of the older ones contain asbestos; both are fragile and will not take a person’s weight. HSE guidance is that nobody stands on an unprotected fragile surface or works within two metres of one without barriers. On a fragile roof the scaffold is part of a wider access plan: edge protection at the eaves, staging or walkways over the sheets, and safety nets or a crash deck beneath where needed. Where the roof is asbestos cement, that also has to be planned with whoever is responsible for the asbestos before anyone goes up.

Commercial and industrial roofs

On schools, offices, warehouses and factory units the arrays are bigger, the programmes longer and the sites live. The scaffold is designed for the job: perimeter edge protection on flat roofs, a loading tower or loading bay for pallets of panels and frames, protection over rooflights, and access that fits the site’s own rules, inductions and vehicle routes. See commercial and industrial scaffolding.

Removing and refitting panels

Solar panels have to come off for a re-roof, a roof repair under the array, or when an old system is replaced. That is a solar job in reverse: the same edge protection, the same lifting arrangements, and often a longer hire, because the roofing work happens between the panels coming off and going back on. On a full re-roof we can provide a temporary roof so the house stays dry while it is open.

Smaller solar jobs: cleaning, bird-proofing and repairs

Not every solar job needs a full installation scaffold. Bird-proofing mesh round an array, a single panel fault or an inverter-side optimiser on the roof may be a short job on a small area. Depending on the roof, the right answer may be a short run of eaves edge protection, a scaffold tower, or, for one or two panels where a machine can reach, a mobile elevating work platform. HSE guidance recognises the last option for very small jobs. We will tell you if a full scaffold is more than the job needs.

Scaffolding for solar installers

We work for solar installers as well as homeowners, and installers need something different from a one-off customer:

• Dates that hold. Scaffold up the working day before the install, down soon after the commissioning, so the installer’s crew is never waiting.
• A consistent specification. The same edge protection, loading arrangement and access on every house, built to the guidance, so the installer’s RAMS describe what is actually there.
• Price from photographs. Most domestic solar scaffolds can be priced from the address, a photograph of the roof and the array layout, without a site visit.
• Paperwork. Handover certificate, TG20 compliance and inspection records for the installer’s file, and our insurance documents on request.
• Inspections included. We inspect our scaffolds before use, weekly and after bad weather. See scaffold inspections.

If you install across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire or Bedfordshire and want a regular scaffolder, call us and we will agree a standard specification and a price basis.

The rules a solar scaffold is built to

• Work at Height Regulations 2005 — falls prevented by collective protection such as guardrails before anything else; the scaffold inspected before first use, at intervals not exceeding seven days, and after anything likely to affect it.
• HSE and CITB guidance on solar installation and roof work — eaves edge protection on the slope being worked, two metres beyond the array, gable protection, fragile-surface controls.
• TG20:21 — NASC guidance for tube-and-fitting scaffolds; a standard solar scaffold comes with a TG20 compliance sheet.
• BS EN 12811-1 — duty class, matched to panels and frames stored on the platform.
• CDM 2015 — on a domestic job the homeowner’s client duties pass to the installer, who plans the work at height.

CISRS-qualified and CITB-trained scaffolders, Advanced CHAS accredited, £10 million public liability, and a handover certificate on every scaffold.

How long solar scaffolding stays up

A typical domestic installation takes one or two days on the roof, and the scaffold is usually hired for a week to allow for the weather and for the electrician to finish. Slate roofs, larger arrays, removals and refits, and commercial jobs take longer. The hire period is written into the quotation, with an extension rate stated.

How much does scaffolding for solar panels cost?

The price depends on:

• The length of the eaves to be protected, including the two metres beyond each end of the array.
• Height — a bungalow, a two-storey house or a three-storey townhouse.
• Gable protection — whether the array comes within two metres of the gable.
• Access — room at the front or back, conservatories, neighbours’ land, and a public pavement needing a licence.
• Lifting — a loading point or hoist position.
• The roof — tile, slate, flat or fragile.
• The hire period.

As a guide, published UK figures put scaffolding for a standard domestic pitched-roof installation at roughly £600 to £1,200, more for slate, three storeys or difficult access, and installers buying regularly typically pay less per house. Farm and commercial roofs are priced to the design. Before you compare solar quotes, check whether scaffolding is included — a cheap quote sometimes is cheap because it is not. Send us the address, a photo of the roof and the panel layout, and we will give you a fixed written price.

Where we put up solar scaffolding

• Oxfordshire — Oxford, Kidlington, Bicester, Witney, Banbury, Abingdon, Didcot, Thame, Chipping Norton and the villages and farms.
• Buckinghamshire — Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Buckingham and Milton Keynes.
• Bedfordshire — Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Biggleswade.
• South Northamptonshire — Brackley, Towcester, Brixworth and the villages.

Solar panel scaffolding questions