Scaffolding Hire and Erection in Gungahlin and Molonglo Valley

Two districts defined by growth

ACT Planning's Gungahlin district profile carries a table of the ACT's districts, and two rows stand out for what they say about the future. Gungahlin had 75,516 people in 2017 and is projected to reach 100,200 by 2041. Molonglo Valley had 5,847 in 2017 and is projected to reach 51,400 by 2041, which the profile table shows as the fastest relative growth of any district. Molonglo Valley is, in other words, a district where much of the growth is still to come.

That is what makes scaffolding here different from the other towns on this site. In an established suburb the typical enquiry comes from a home owner with a roof, a paint job or a renovation. In a growth district more of the work may come from builders and the sub-trades working for them. This page is written mainly for that reader, though a home owner in either district will find the licence and inspection points useful too.

The dwelling mix

The profile gives Gungahlin a medium density share of 27 per cent, the highest of any district, and Molonglo Valley a higher density share of 36 per cent. It also gives Gungahlin the largest household size, 2.9 people per household. The dwelling mix is undated, so it describes the shape of each district rather than a current count. We have no verified figures for the number of new builds, apartment projects or government building programs in either district, and we have not included any.

What the density figures suggest is a district where townhouse-scale and apartment-scale construction is a larger share of the work than elsewhere. A scaffold on a row of townhouses or on a multi-storey building is usually a bigger, longer-standing structure than a house scaffold, and it often belongs to a builder's programme rather than to a home owner.

Builders and the duties that come with them

WorkSafe ACT's scaffolding page says the Work Health and Safety Act assigns duties to designers, scaffolding contractors and workers carrying out scaffolding work, and to principal contractors for construction projects costing $250,000 or more. On a new multi-dwelling site that threshold is likely to matter. If you are the builder, you need to know whether you are the principal contractor, and what that means for the way the scaffolder's work is coordinated, inspected and recorded. If you are an owner-builder or a sub-trade, ask who holds that role on your site.

The same page says working decks need guardrails, mid-rails and toe boards, that people involved in erecting, using and dismantling scaffolding need training and supervision, and that trades working on or near scaffolds need a safe work method statement. In a new build, where roofers, bricklayers, cladders and painters follow one another, that last point can matter more than it does on a house. Each trade on the scaffold should have its own statement, and the scaffolder should know who is on it. The erection and dismantling page explains the erector's side.

New building sites and the 2017 audit

The ACT has a record of checking scaffolds on building sites. In a 2017 audit, WorkSafe ACT looked at 26 sites between March and May, found compliance rates between 58 per cent and 89 per cent, and issued three prohibition notices and three improvement notices, all on residential sites. The problems included fall protection at entry and exit points, ladders and stairs, and missing sole plates. The ACT Government's media release on the audit describes the results. This is history from 2017, not a current statistic, and it does not tell you how any scaffold today will be built. It does show where checks tend to look, which is a useful list for a builder: sole plates under the standards, safe access, and fall protection where people get on and off.

The ACT also has a code of practice, Managing the Risk of Falls in Housing Construction, administered by WorkSafe ACT. The ABLIS page does not mention scaffolding, so we do not describe what the code says about it. WorkSafe ACT's 2023 alert, which followed a 4.2 metre fall from a second storey on a residential site, says scaffolding must meet AS 1576, that code and the work health and safety laws. If you are working on housing construction, read the code itself.

Licences, inspections and handover on a building site

Gungahlin and Molonglo Valley scaffolds for multi-storey work are likely to be above the 4 metre line, and would then need a high risk work licence to erect, alter or dismantle. Access Canberra lists the classes: Basic scaffolding (SB), Intermediate scaffolding (SI) and Advanced scaffolding (SA). As the NSW and other state regulators describe them, SB covers modular and prefabricated scaffolds, SI adds tube and coupler, and SA adds hung and suspended scaffolds. No ACT page lists scopes, so ask the scaffolder which class applies to the structure you are getting. See the types guide for the definitions.

A builder's scaffold is likely to stand for longer, and be used by more people, than a home owner's, so the inspection regime matters. WorkSafe ACT's alerts say inspect before first use, after a severe storm, after repairs and at intervals not exceeding 30 days, by a competent person. Safe Work Australia says a competent person must confirm in writing that construction is complete before a high risk scaffold is used, and its guide gives an example handover certificate. A general ACT requirement for a handover certificate is not verified, but any builder can ask for one. The inspections guide has the full list.

Staging a scaffold through a build

New construction brings up questions that a house repaint does not. The scaffold may be altered as the building rises, which is an alteration that triggers a new inspection. It may be left standing between stages, or dismantled and put up again. Materials such as tiles or bricks may be stored on the platform. Each of these changes the load and the hire cost, and the scaffolder should be told early. A birdcage or a cantilever may be proposed for particular parts of a larger building, and Safe Work Australia suggests a plan prepared by a competent person for more complex scaffolds. Ask for it in the quote, not after the structure is up.

Because the scaffold is on a programme, hire length is also a bigger issue. A slipped trade can hold a scaffold for weeks, and in winter Canberra's mean minimum of 0.1 degrees Celsius in July, measured at the airport, means frosty starts that slow some trades. Read the hire length guide and settle the base period and the weekly extension rate in writing before the scaffold goes up.

Streets, footpaths and lines

If a scaffold, a skip or stored materials will occupy public land, the ACT process found is the Public Unleased Land Act 2013, with approval for works on or using public unleased land requested from the Public Land Use Team (02 6205 8794). Apply fourteen working days before starting, as the ABLIS entry advises, and allow for a temporary traffic management plan where one is needed. No ACT page names scaffolding or hoardings, so confirm with the team, and do not assume an exemption. Overhead lines are a separate check: Evoenergy's guidance gives 4 metres for metallic scaffold, and says to contact it before work starts if that cannot be kept.

Send the suburb, the building type, the number of storeys, the dates and who the principal contractor is when you ask for a quote. The commercial scaffolding page sets out what building managers and builders usually ask for.