Scaffolding and formwork globally is a multi-billion-dollar industry and has wide ranging applications in a number of sectors be it building construction, infrastructure projects, industrial construction and even commercial events. Scaffolding is the temporary access structures that are erected to access all types of construction sites be it building for repair or painting or be it industrial plants like boilers, refineries, power plants etc for accessing important parts of equipment and pipelines for doing works like coating, painting, insulation etc. Formwork is the temporary structures that are erected for enabling concrete construction in building walls, columns, slabs and also in infrastructure projects like bridge piers, tunnels, box culverts etc.

Scaffolding and formwork are generally made from steel or aluminium with a mixture of high quality plywood.

In the developed world, it is mandatory to use a high quality scaffolding or formwork for any type of construction project and there are very strict health and safety guidelines compelling the contractor to use only high quality, certified material with trained and certified workforce. In developing countries like India, there have not been any standards in place for use of scaffolding or formwork and the market has evolved from traditional bamboo scaffolding to better quality material being used now necessitated by the large number of infrastructure and building construction projects coming and acute shortage or skilled labour.

Moreover, in the developed world scaffolding and formwork are largely rented by the end user of the project or the general contractor responsible for the overall construction. There are specialised scaffolding and formwork contractors who are tasked with the job of designing, renting and erecting the scaffolding and formwork material out and these contractors typically maintain a large rental inventory which is rotated across multiple projects. The advantage of this approach for the end user is that it minimises upfront capital investment in scaffolding and formwork material, allows the general contractor to budget their scaffolding and formwork costs within the overall project budget, get advantage of using highest quality material with less labour and large number of repetitions and speeds up execution of the project as the expertise of selecting the best scaffolding, designing it in the best manner is with the scaffolding contractor who is renting the material. For the scaffolding and formwork supplier who is renting the material, the advantage of this is that they are able to more efficiently deploy their inventory across multiple projects. Since most of the latest technology systems are modular in nature and can be used across multiple projects and give large number of repetitions, the contractor is able to get better realisation out of their scaffolding and formwork inventory.

Overall for all projects which are multi-purpose and generic in style like commercial buildings, residential buildings, malls, hotels etc, it is preferred to go with rental model as it provides for being able to use the highest quality material at the lease possible cost and maximises the project completion time with lowest labour cost. For projects that are custom made like special bridge piers or special shaped concrete structures for which custom made formwork is needed and can be used only for that particular project, it is required to purchase the formwork and the cost of the formwork has to be absorbed entirely on that project.

Author details
Navneet Saraf,
Group Director,
Technocraft Industries India Ltd