Types of scaffolding have existed for almost as long as humans have been building. All buildings which extend higher than the human reach require some form of scaffolding to allow the builders to continue building upwards. Other types of building also require scaffolding to allow builders and other trades to safely work on them.

Those who build buildings have been adapting and developing scaffolding for tens of thousands of years to help to create structures that are safe and secure for builders to work with, whilst also being low cost, so that the use of scaffolding does not increase the cost of the building by too much.

Prehistoric Use

Although historians cannot be certain of prehistoric scaffolding use, archaeologists suspect that some form of scaffold system was used by prehistoric man to allow them to complete cave paintings. Indentations, which are suspected to be socket holes, were discovered around Paleolithic art at the Lascaux Caves near Montignac in France. These paintings extend onto the ceiling of the cave, and it is thought that the artist would have required scaffolding to allow them to paint the images which were found in this area of the cave. These cave paintings are estimated to be approximately 17,300 years old.

Ancient Scaffolding

Scaffolding was also widely used in the ancient world, but there is far more documentation to describe how and why it was used.

A well-known Greek historian, Herodotus, described how scaffold was used by the Egyptians to create the stepped pyramids of Egypt. He noted that the Egyptians used light scaffold as a means for lifting heavy blocks up, from step to step. Their scaffold was intentionally lightweight so that it could be easily moved straight up to the next step to allow blocks to be moved higher and higher.

There are also other documented examples of scaffolding systems being used in ancient Greece (as early as in the 5th Century BCE), in early China, and by the Nubians. The majority of ancient scaffold was made of wood or bamboo, which was secured by tight rope knots.

Bamboo scaffold is still used today in some areas of South East Asia and India, although extra precautions are normally taken to improve safety. Many international travellers marvel at the city centre buildings in Hong Kong which are covered in this type of scaffold. Some builders suggest that this type of scaffold is more suitable in areas which could be hit by earthquakes.

The Modernisation of Scaffold

Up until the 20th century, scaffolding was rather haphazard, and came in wildly varying sizes and materials. Brothers Daniel Palmer Jones and David Henry Jones took huge steps to revolutionise scaffold in order to make it safer, stronger and better value than ever before. They helped to standardise parts, so that builders could trade parts more easily.

David Palmer Jones’ most famous invention was the “Scaffixer” which completely changed the ways that scaffold pieces were held together. It produced a far more secure bond than rope could create. The brothers’ scaffold company was employed to work on renovations at Buckingham Palace in 1913, and therefore the innovative methods that they employed were brought to international attention.

In 1919, Palmer Jones subsequently introduced a device which he called the “Universal Coupler”. This coupling device could be used on hundreds of different scaffold pieces to allow for the interchangeability of various different parts. This meant that it was much easier to construct suitable scaffolding for a project using standard scaffold parts.

The brothers also introduced tubular steel pipes instead of timber pieces. Steel scaffold was stronger and less likely to fail than wood scaffold was. Because the steel was tubular, it also weighed less than some of the timber which was used. They also pioneered the idea of diagonal bracing to improve structural stability. The Jones brothers ideas were so successful in Britain that they were exported worldwide.

Modern Scaffold

Scaffold in Europe is now governed by European Union regulations. These Standards are designed to ensure that all scaffolding used in the European Union is properly erected using adequate safety precautions. This is intended to keep the public and workers safe when they are around these structures.

Although tubular steel is still widely used, new materials have also been introduced. Lightweight steel and aluminium have been developed to make scaffold even easier to erect, whilst also maintaining its core strength. Some composite materials (such as glass fibre with a nylon or polyester matrix) are also used, although these are far more expensive to produce than steel or aluminium poles are.

Composite frames are normally only used in circumstances where metal frames would not be suitable, for example, if the scaffold were to be erected close to overhead power cables which could not be safely isolated. Composite frames would reduce the risk of electrocution in these circumstances.