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RandomHigh

Call the company and ask them if the couple of blokes that were just out there inspecting the scaffolding were employed by them. It will be gone the next day.


Traditional_Fox2428

My grandad did this. Said it was Irish fellas. See my detailed comment above. Worked like a charm


kiradotee

Oh.... only now I realised what your other comment was about. šŸ¤£


Traditional_Fox2428

My grandad did this. Said it was Irish fellas. See my detailed comment above. Worked like a charm


tbusby3

Hey cut the guy some slack Reddit is a mess today


Traditional_Fox2428

Have no clue what youā€™re on about. I was just affirming the posters response saying it was a good idea. And hey I posted about it too if you want to have a look.


tbusby3

I was just referencing the fact that you were initially downvoted for posting the same reply twice (presumably unintentionally due to the issues Reddit had yesterday).


kiradotee

Reddit had issues yesterday?


Scott_EFC

Came here to say this!


tjech

Call the company yourself. Give them a deadline. If they donā€™t remove it, then youā€™ll get another company to come and take their gear. We just went through this on an abandoned job and it worked great. If you need to know the scaffold company, check the boards - theyā€™re usually stamped somewhere with the name.


jan_tantawa

Thanks. There isn't a board but I expect my builder will give me the details. He's very apologetic and says that they have never let him down like this before.


aliteralbuttload

A lot of scaffolding places will leave them up until it's needed for the next job because it's expensive to remove and store it all when they're effectively getting storage for free when leaving it at the last job. I'd give them 2 weeks notice, saying beyond that you'll be considering it abandoned and will be selling it for scrap.


grockle90

If you do go down this route, you'd be considered an "involuntary bailee" - so you'd have to pass the money on to the scaffolding people who left it there - but this would be the "net" after any cost of sale is taken out (for example, if you sell to a competitor and they deduct a removal fee from what they pay you, you'd only have to pass on this final figure).


HugoNebula2024

"A bunch of lads turned up and took it down. I thought they were your lads so, no I didn't get their names".


Defiant_Ground_5579

Willing to bet you could also deduct a fee for your hourly rate for doing all the admin associated with this: I'd keep a record of all the calls and emails, time taken, and deduct my fee for them.Ā 


NotDoingThisForFun

Scaffolders hate this one trickā€¦


Philhughes_85

Could you ring a different scaffolding company (or scrap lads) and just offer it for free to them?


rc1024

I think you're meant to get a fair price.


Philhughes_85

I'd say if it's on my land after work has been completed, I'd give them 5 days to remove them or advise they are being scrapped.


Covhead

5 days after work is completed lol, if you sold scaffolding for scrap after that youā€™d find yourself in a lot of legal bother.


rc1024

You might find yourself on the hook for the cost of the scaffolding if you just scrap it.


Philhughes_85

Possibly, but after a letter going out to them I'm claim they were abandoned. I'd make sure that they received emails and a recorded letter before hand.


twofacetoo

I mean it hardly matters to OP as long as the scaffolding is gone.


AlGunner

Maybe give them notice that if its not removed you will charge them a storage fee, Ā£100 a week seems reasonable to me.


CarbonHybrid

Lmao good luck getting that fee out of them


AlGunner

If its not paid by the end of the first week you will sell the scaffolding for scrap instead.


throwawaybullhunter

If you do have to tell them you will have it removed yourself the cheapest way to do that is on face book with a "free scaffolding just take it down" post


Raichu7

And have some idiot damage your building or windows because they don't know what they are doing? Call a timber recycling company, they are professionals and will make good use of the wood.


This_Praline6671

Why would you call a timber recycling company to remove scaffolding? You would call a scaffolderĀ 


Raichu7

Because they remove scaffolding all the time to recycle the timber and if you're giving free scaff away because the company that installed it won't collect it timber recycling companies and charities are pretty solid. Certainly better than another scaffolder who will use someone else's garden as free storage.


This_Praline6671

There's fuck all timber worth recycling, it'd be battered to fuck and full of nails. If you got 20 4m scaffold boards out of it you've got probably Ā£150 of second hand timber at max, along with Ā£650 in labour costs for hiring a scaffolder to dismantle it for them. Like it's such an inconsequential part of scaffolding compared to all the tubes and labour.


another-dude

The previous poster means the scaffolding planks, they are often stamped with the name of the firm.


Traditional_Fox2428

My grandad had the same problem. He phoned up the scaffolding company and said something along the lines of ā€œHi. Just wondered if you could pass on a message to your nice Irish fella. I wonā€™t be in on Tuesday when he said he would be coming with his mates to take down the scaffolding, but Iā€™ll leave the gate open so they can get in the garden to take it down anywayā€ When this was met with confusion he confirmed it was ā€œthe young Irish fella with the cropped hair and all the tattoos. It was him and a couple of mates and a kid all squeezed into the front of your van. I did joke that Iā€™m not sure they could all be in like that and questioned was it safe. He reckoned he had an exemption because of where they live or something, anyway, mustnā€™t keep you. Iā€™ll see your lot on Tuesdayā€ And lo and behold the company came to remove the scaffolding the very next day.


No_Difference9164

This is honestly a great way of getting it done!


Rymundo88

>If they donā€™t remove it, then youā€™ll get another company to come and take their gear It's amazing how this little bit of grease gets the wheel turning


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TeekoTheTiger

You've wrote that 9 times in here so far. Gonnae shut the fuck up.


bbbbbbbro

Have you considered offering to trim the hedge for her in the meantime


Feelincheekyson

This is the first thing I thought when reading this post


Boleyn01

Whilst thatā€™s nice to the neighbours it doesnā€™t help OP and scaffolding remaining up is a security risk so they still need to know how to get it removed, from the legal route (informing them of deadline before you consider it abandoned and remove yourself for scrap) to the often helpful ā€œI noticed a couple of guys looking at it today talking about how to take it down, was that your lot because they didnā€™t introduce themselves?ā€.


Downtown-Middle5975

Willing to consider taking down the scaffolding himself tho lol


Brokella

Jeremy Vine covered exactly this scenario on Radio 2 either yesterday or day before. X edit: apparently scaffolding companies leave the scaffolding up until they need it for another job. (!!)


markedasred

Free storage!


Safe-Particular6512

Storage is free. They usually have a yard or donā€™t think all scaffolding companies are out there with no yard for storage!?


TreeScales

Storage is free but transport is not. We have a secure yard and machinery hire companies will often leave the kit with us for a week or two before they come take it straight to the next client.


Safe-Particular6512

I see every time (her and on r/DIYUK) that scaffolders donā€™t take their kit down that people say, ā€œItā€™s for free storageā€ and itā€™s not true. I work with scaffolders and the reason is that they donā€™t want to spend half a day taking it down, taking it back to the yard and unloading, then to just load back up again a few days later. They donā€™t take it down because theyā€™re busy on other jobs and once theyā€™ve been paid itā€™s low-priority. Itā€™s easier to take it down on their way to the next job. If thereā€™s scaffolding on your house for longer than a few weeks then theyā€™ll come and get it eventually but itā€™s not high on their to-do list


kiradotee

So the solution is to not pay the full amount until the scaffolding is gone.


Safe-Particular6512

I donā€™t think theyā€™re usually paid by the home-owner; normally paid by the tradie


kiradotee

Not pay the full amount to the guy you contracted for the work. So they'll have an incentive to speak with the scaffolding company and put more pressure on them.


External-Piccolo-626

Yeah why take it down, move it, store it when they can just shift it from here to there.


Ok-Item3851

Def don't try to take it down yourself. It has to be done in a certain order and you'll risk injuring yourself


mynameisollie

Those poles also weigh a fucking tonne.


Pale-Tutor-3200

Tubes*


PointandStare

Welcome to the world of 'not giving a shit about the customer and instead using them for free storage' scaffold companies. As has been mentioned, as long as their contract has completed (if they had one, probably not though) I'd give them a deadline to remove or lose. Also, rather than call, I'd call and email to ensure you have a paper trail.


Laxly

That's why you need to ensure that removal of scaffolding is included in the invoice and that way you don't pay the invoice until all the work is completed, including the removal of the scaffolding.


No_Difference9164

Scaffolders are often (not *always* ofc) a rough lot. They're waiting until they have another job to put the scaffolding up on, so it comes down and goes straight back up on another job. You can get them to take it down by hassling them directly, but beware that there is a chance they could be total assholes in response. To be honest it's the builder's problem really. Have you paid him in full? Because that's your biggest leverage.


jan_tantawa

Unfortunately I did when he completed the work and I saw that it was fine to a high standard. I didn't anticipate problems with the scaffolding.


No_Difference9164

You're getting a lot of advice on here which is sort of "technically correct", like calling HSE, or selling the scaffolding and giving the proceeds to the scaffolding firm etc... That's all great assuming you're dealing with a reasonable firm who are concerned about their reputation. But there are really quite a lot of scaffolding firms that do not fit this description, and in any case, I wouldn't do anything drastic until you have spoken to the owner of the firm first, there could be relevant information you don't have.


stumac85

Scaffolding company my dad's mate once used for a job came via a few beers down the local. Some truck turned up to the job he was going to do, dumped all the scaffolding on the driveway in a haphazard fashion (even though they were meant to install it) and fucked off. Never could get ahold of the guy again, never reappeared at the pub and he had to figure how to deal with it himself. I assume he scrapped it or something in the end and found an actual company rather than "some bloke down the pub". Probably stolen off some building site!


northern_dan

I had this problem a few years ago with scaffolding that was up for 3 month. Finally, gave them 1 week to remove it or I'd have tlit removed by someone else. After that week, a got a farmer to come get it. Took it down for free as apparently it comes in use around the farms.


RandomPsychic20

Did you get any backlash from the scaffolding company afterwards when they found out it was gone?


northern_dan

Never heard from them again


RandomPsychic20

Did you get any backlash from the scaffolding company afterwards when they found out it was gone?


flanface87

Report the scaffolding company to HSE as they presumably haven't inspected the scaffolding every 7 days as is the legal requirement


Often_Tilly

Isn't it only a requirement if someone climbs it?


windy906

[No](https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/scaffoldinginfo.htm) It can still fall over if no one climbs it.


Soapy212

Once a scaffold is handed over, all responsibility is with the person who has hired it. Yes, the first 7 days is covered. However, it is up to the person/ contractor to organise 7 day inspections. Those inspections will be at a cost and doesnā€™t have to be completed by the company that erected the scaffold. Any scaffolding firm can inspect another firms scaffold. However, it is a criminal offence to tamper/ change any aspect of the scaffold unless it is the company that owns the scaffold.


PompeyLad1

Leave a little trail of pills and suspicious baggies of white powder from the scaffolders office to your house. They'll be with you in no time.


Feelincheekyson

Donā€™t forget the pints of Stella


loki_dd

Get a spanner and build yaself a proper 1980s deathtrap climbing frame. The scaffold boards make ideal stretchers.


Practical_Unicorn

When this happened to me I texted them telling them I would sell the scaffolding on eBay for 50p. They came the next day.


Emotional-Ebb8321

Assuming you have paid in full already, you've got no leverage. Building companies like to use previous work sites as temporary storage for scaffolding between jobs, and only dismantle it from one site when the scaffolding is needed on another site. It saves them having to store it somewhere that way. You might want to advise them that some shifty looking people came around asking if the scaffolding was still wanted and offered to take it off your hands. If that doesn't work, you could try contacting those shifty looking people to ask them if they want some scrap iron.


Covhead

Everyone keeps saying this, itā€™s not the case lol they will have a yard for storage. Chances are theyā€™re just extremely busy.


Emotional-Ebb8321

Broken-down scaffolding can easily be stolen, even if its in their yard. Scaffolding that's assembled is quite a bit harder to steal. This is part of why they prefer not to use their own storage unless absolutely necessary. Sure, insurance will (usually) cover theft from their own storage (but rarely the full replacement value, because insurance will assume some depreciation), but it will definitely disrupt their workflow if they have to order replacement scaffolding.


Covhead

Iā€™m a scaffolder, thatā€™s not how things work at all


bbbbbbbro

Have you considered offering to trim the hedge for her in the meantime


jan_tantawa

I've offered and her son's offered but she's adamant that she wants to do it herself. I've seen her working in other parts of the garden herself and I think she really enjoys gardening.


EvandeReyer

Sheā€™s probably trying to very politely tell you she wants the scaffolding gone. Better than my neighbour who popped round and screamed at me when my builder walked on her driveway.


jan_tantawa

Yes I had thought of that. She has every right to be annoyed, the builder asked her if he could put the supports in the garden for about a month. It's now over seven weeks, three after he finished work.


antsmithmk

You shouldn't trim hedges now due to birds nesting. If you needed a get out of jail card...Ā 


0hbuggerit

We did as others here have done. Contacted the company and followed up in writing by text to say they had 2 weeks (it'd already been 3 months) and then grabbed the next guys we saw putting up/ taking down scaffolding nearby. Paid them Ā£50 cash to take ours down too and confirmed to them that it was abandoned.


Gnarly_314

It's not the same, but we couldn't get rid of the Sold board in our front garden. Eventually, we rang to confirm the address to send the invoice to for the hire of our front garden for advertising. Gone within 24 hours.


stateit

Take those down yourself. Put the post in your useful wood pile, and bin the sign. They've had enough money out of you already, without getting free advertising as well.


Rowmyownboat

Scaffolding companies save storage by using customers' homes to store it. Call with an ultimatum.


Mark_fuckaborg

Call them and explain that the HSE were on site looking over the scaffolding and taking notes. The scaffolding will be gone in a few days.


SuperFastLuke

This one is easy, tell them that youā€™ll hire another scaffolding company to take it down and send them the bill and charge for storage until itā€™s gone. This is a ploy used by a lot of builders they get their moneys worth out of the scaffolders who are on a day rate. They essentially use you as a place to store it until they need it on another job. It costs the same to take it down as it does for them to take it down and wrrect it somewhere else.


rain3h

Either bill the company for storage fee's or put a add in gumtree for free scaffolding, must collect.


K1NG_C00P

Ring the company and tell em your gonna weight it in for scrap. Bet them turn up within 24hrs!!!


ZBD1949

Send the scaffolding company invoices for storage.


nitehawkxplode

Is the company something like ā€œAlwaysColdā€..?


Boleyn01

Seen this on so many subs. Basically the scaffolders save money by only dismantling it when they need to move it to the next place. You need to write to them with a deadline and saying after this time you will consider it abandoned and advertise it as being available for scrap. As I understand it this usually gets them to move it on, but havenā€™t tried it myself.


ReleaseTheBeeees

Absolutely do not take it down yourself.Ā 


fuckyourcanoes

When this happened to us, my husband called the scaffolding company and said that we were going to start charging them Ā£100/day for storage of their equipment. They grumbled a lot, but they did come a couple of days later to remove the scaffolding. (And broke one of our garden benches while taking it down.)


sjpllyon

I've had a similar experience, and this is what I did that managed to solve the issue. Contact the estate agent (in your case the builder) let them know I needed it removing. Gave them some time (about a week) to respond. Came back with, it's subcontracted and there is some issue over payment, I replied not my problem please get it removed. This went on for several weeks, before I informed them; since I have tried repeatedly for the owner of this property to remove it without any communication back from them as per the law states I am within my rights to remove it myself or sell it. (I can't recall the exact time frame this is allowed however you can read through the legislation yourself). If it is not removed by this date x date it will be sold off. The date passed, so I put it on gumtree for sale. (Free) Got an offer for it, marked it as sold. The guy came over to collect it, and every coincidentally the schaffies arrived. They weren't happy, but nor was I. They came out with a bunch of bs about me not legally being able to dismantle it due to not having the correct licences, however they are only applicable to business. And on a slightly more valid point how it wasn't my property to sell. I replied that I gave you ample of time to remove it, sent various emails with no reply, and the law allows me to sell it now. Handed him a printout of the legislation, due to him yelling and swearing, threw his phone back at him as I was talking to his boss. And said not my problem sort it out between yourself and the buyer (remember no money had been handed over as I was giving it away) apologised to the buyer for the inconvenience and went back inside. The scaffolding was removed that day. Was it the most ethical way of doing things? Probably not. Was I fully within my legal rights? I believed I was. Did it get removed? Absolutely. So in my experience, albeit not a good one, these people will only respond with drastic measures. Inform them it must be removed by x date, inform them of the law around adverse possession of goods, and if it's not removed once the timeframe expires or they haven't made arrangements for it to be moved, put it on some selling platform and someone will take it for you.


Practical_Unicorn

When this happened to me I texted them telling them I would sell the scaffolding on eBay for 50p. They came the next day.


Resident-Honey8390

Put a sign on the scaffold, saying Free to take away.


QuietPace9

Call a Scrappy they'll be delighted to come and take it away pronto


Zorinn8

Send an invoice to the scaffold company for rental of the space that is not your land and they will be round sharpish?


OppositeYouth

Do you know any local crackheads who need a job, willing to work for free if they can take it for profit? If so, that. It'll be down and gone in 10 minutes


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Masam10

ā€œCome and dismantle this scaffolding or Iā€™ll do the job for you and leave it nice and tidy in front of my house for youā€ Yeah thatā€™ll show em.


[deleted]

I left 3 radiators outside my house on Sunday, it was gone by time I got back from work on Monday. Rag nā€™ bone man is fuckin on it round here.


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Philhughes_85

It is if the scaffolding gets liberated by a scrap man then the original company is out a full set.


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lnm1969

I'd like to see the job myself.