THE National Access and Scaffolding Confederation has launched a new product which they say will produce a “step change” for the industry.
The TG20:13 technical guide offers practical guidance for tube and fitting scaffolding. Supported by the UKCG, HSE and CITB, it aims to raise awareness of good practice in scaffolding across the construction industry.
TG20:13 is made up of four publications – a pocket-sized User Guide, two A4 books (Operational and Design Guides), and a new software package known as the e-Guide incorporating ‘TG20 Compliance Sheets’ which reduce the requirement for additional scaffold design.
NASC Managing Director, Robin James, said, “TG20:13 represents a hugely improved, more user-friendly and significantly enhanced technical guidance system. We are confident our members, and the wider industry, will welcome this innovative product.
“The NASC has invested more than £500k into the research and development of TG20:13. We are confident that it will be a great success and will be positively received.” NASC President Kevin Ward added, “Those who have already seen the document have been amazed by the quality of the work. TG20:13 is not a rewrite, it is a completely new suite of documents.
“The new version of TG20 sees a ‘step change’ in our industry with regard to the design of tube and fitting scaffolds.
“In future our clients will be expecting either a site specific ‘TG20:13 compliance sheet’ or a ‘full temporary works scaffold design’ to be submitted as part of a scaffold plan prior to the commencement of any works, and the HSE will also be looking for this.”
The Operational Guide is a 224-page guide containing practical guidance for most common types of scaffolding supported by structural research and calculations.
Guidance is provided for an expanded range of structures which includes independent scaffolding, interior birdcages, chimney stack scaffolds, loading bays, ladder-access towers, free-standing towers, lift shaft towers and putlog scaffolding.
The Design Guide is Intended mainly for engineers and designers.
The document gives technical data, commentary and source material for use by competent and qualified scaffold designers in circumstances which are outside the scope of standard solutions.
The e-Guide is designed for Mac, PC and tablet use, making it easy to check scaffolds for TG20:13 compliance digitally, with user-friendly software which will facilitate printing and circulation of details of TG20 compliant structures by email.
The e-Guide allows TG20 to incorporate a wide range of scaffolding configurations, and calculates safe heights, tie duties and leg loads.
The User Guide is in A6 format. This document summarises the requirements for TG20 compliant scaffolding and offers guidance to the scaffolding operative on-site.
NASC Immediate Past President, Rob Lynch said, “We are all very positive about TG20:13. The new e-Guide is especially exciting. It was a risk we took developing this, but it’s exceeded all expectations. We believe the e-Guide will be an essential tool for every site manager and safety consultant, and will provide an accessible and reliable reference point for assessing safety and compliance of scaffolds.”
