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Every live scaffold, its 7-day inspections and its hire weeks in one register

Nothing lost on a paper tag and no hire week left un-invoiced: a register your inspecting scaffolder fills in on a phone and your office checks every morning, built around how your gangs already work.

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Free first callWe reply within one working dayA UK company

Sound familiar?

  • The weekly inspections are hand-written on a register pad or a tag holder, and some of them have been rained on.
  • There is a spreadsheet of live scaffolds with erect dates and hire periods that nobody updates.
  • Extra-hire invoices are raised from memory, and off-hire notices taken by phone get forgotten.
  • Handover certificates are in Word, and finding one after an incident takes a search.
  • Quotes come from a template that does not know what is still standing.

What the system does

  • A live-scaffold board

    Every job that is standing, who inspected it last and when the next 7-day inspection is due.

  • Phone inspection forms with photos

    A phone inspection form with photos and signature that produces the written report the Work at Height Regulations ask for, stored against the scaffold.

  • Handover certificates as PDFs

    Emailed to the site manager and kept with the job.

  • A hire counter that raises invoices

    A hire counter from handover to off-hire that raises weekly or four-weekly hire invoices into your accounts software (Xero at minimum; others where they are in scope), so no hire week goes un-invoiced.

  • A QR code on every tag

    A QR code on the scaffold tag that lets the site manager see the latest inspection on their phone.

  • TG20 sheets stored with the job

    TG20 compliance sheets and design drawings stored against each scaffold, so the paperwork is where the job is.

What a first build looks like

A four-gang firm with around 60 scaffolds standing

Before
A register pad and tag holders on site, a spreadsheet of live scaffolds that nobody updates, and extra-hire invoices raised from memory.
What we build
  • A job record from quote to erect, handover, alterations, weekly inspections and off-hire
  • A phone inspection form that works offline on site
  • Handover and inspection PDFs
  • A hire counter that raises invoices into Xero at your chosen interval
  • A QR tag per scaffold
  • A board the office checks each morning for inspections due and hire weeks not yet billed
Outcome
The office knows every morning what is due for inspection and what has not been billed, and no inspection record can be lost.
How long
The delivery date is in the proposal, not in a sales pitch.

More worked examples

Why not just buy something?

We have always managed with the pad and the tags.

And the law allows paper. The problem is proving it: a lost pad or a rained-on tag is no defence when a site manager or an inspector asks. The phone form takes the same two minutes and the record cannot be lost.

The scaffolding software we looked at cost thousands a year.

The established tools are priced and designed for large scaffolders. We build the small data model your firm actually needs, at a fixed price agreed up front, and it is yours to keep using.

Our scaffolders will not use an app.

They already use their phones for photos and WhatsApp. The inspection form is a short checklist with a photo and a signature, designed with your inspecting scaffolder, and it works without signal.

Can a one-person firm support us?

Yes, and we are open about being one engineer. Every build runs on the same platform and the documentation is part of the price. Your data is yours and you can export it at any time. The agreement sets out your rights to the software so you are never locked in. Your data is yours from day one. We agree the support terms in writing before we start.

  • Fixed price, agreed in writing before we start.
  • A working version in weeks, not months.
  • Hosted, backed up and supported afterwards.

What an inspector will ask to see

Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulations 12 and 13
An inspection by a competent person before first use, at least every 7 days and after alteration or adverse weather, with a written report kept on site and then retained.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
The records a principal contractor can ask for: inspections, handover certificates and who was on site.
NASC TG20:21 and SG4
A compliance sheet or design for each scaffold, and the working-at-height method it follows.
HSE expectations for inspection records
A record that identifies the inspector and lists any defects with the corrective action taken.

Correct to the best of our knowledge as at October 2026.

We build the record-keeping; we do not give regulatory advice. Your policies stay yours.

Questions we are often asked

Does it cover the 7-day inspection rule?

Yes. Each scaffold carries its next-due date, and the form records the inspector, findings, defects and corrective action, which is what the regulations and the HSE expect to see.

What about inspections after alterations or bad weather?

You can log an inspection at any time, mark it as 'after alteration' or 'after adverse weather', and the 7-day clock resets.

Can it raise the hire invoices automatically?

Yes. The hire counter starts at handover and stops at off-hire. Invoices go to your accounts software (Xero at minimum; others where they are in scope) at the interval you set, split into erect, hire and dismantle if that is how you bill.

Will it work on site without signal?

The inspection form saves on the phone and uploads when it has a connection.

How long does it take and what does it cost?

A fixed scope and price agreed before we start, delivered in weeks. There are no per-user fees, so every scaffolder can have the app.

Tell us what is not working

A few lines is plenty. We reply within one working day.

If you would rather we rang you

What you do by hand today, roughly how many staff, and what prompted you to look now.

We use what you send us only to reply to your enquiry. We also record which page you sent it from and your IP address, so we can stop spam. We will not add you to a mailing list. How we look after your details.

or email hello@dowco.co

The form is never the only route. Email hello@dowco.co. We reply within one working day.