The NASC has unveiled further launch details of the forthcoming, influential, all-new TG20:13 scaffolding industry standard technical guidelines – developed in conjunction with technical software experts, CADS.

With the endorsement of the UKCG, HSE and CITB, the NASC expects TG20:13 to be taken up by the industry, with principal contractors adopting the guidelines as a minimum requirement – making it an essential tool for the scaffolding sector, whether an NASC member, or not.

The objective of TG20 is to provide guidance for everyone in the wider construction industry. It is a user-friendly document which will be essential for the expert and occasional user. The NASC sees it as a vital part of improving standards of all scaffolding.

The NASC’s TG20:13 – which will launch in the autumn – is totally re-vamped and will feature three sections:

• 1. An all-new, user-friendly, 250-page ‘Management Guide,’ with illustrations which encompasses a very wide range of everday scaffolds.The guide provides practical guidance for common types of scaffolding supported by detailed structural research and calculations. Guidance is provided for independent scaffolding (2m/3m lifts), interior birdcages, chimney stack scaffolds, loading bays, ladder-access towers, free-standing towers, lift shaft towers and putlog scaffolding. New ‘compliance sheets’ are also included, supported by structural research and design to BS EN 12811 (see on). The guide includes leg loads for all the scaffolds covered in the guide.
• 2. A new ‘Design Guide’ for engineers and designers. Guidance for engineers from TG20:08 Volumes 1 and 2 has been amalgamated, edited and updated into the TG20:13 Design Guide. And a design standard for prefabricated (‘Readylock’) transoms has been defined.
• 3. The exciting, innovative and superbly easy-use, modern, electronic ‘e-Guide’ – serving as a digital “simple pocket reference guide,” making it incredibly easy to check 100’s of different scaffolds for compliance, without the need for additional, costly design work.

Further improvements of TG20:13 over the out-going (but still relevant) TG20:08 technical guidelines include:

• New technical guidance notes for scaffolding designers ­ including many more types of scaffolds that will be exempt from further design, including loading bays, ladder towers, interior birdcages, bridges and the use of pre-fabricated (‘Readylock’) transom units and high yield scaffold tube. And all will be supplied with leg loads.
• TG20 ‘Compliance Sheets’ providing a clear summary of the requirements for TG20 scaffolding, to allow easy signing-off and compliance – available in both the Management Guide (paper) and e-Guide (PDF). These will feature safe heights, tie duties, bay lengths, transom spacing, location and other vital criteria.
• A new, simplified, heavily R&D’d wind map system, with an automatic, accurate wind calculator. And the e-guide automatically calculates your current location, height above sea level and wind speed on site.
• Outstanding issues with TG20:08 have been resolved, and simplified, the guidance now supports standard working practices fully
• The new e-Guide will include safe height results, including those with add-ons and Readylock transoms, calculations have been added for scaffolds with doubled standards and a new option has been provided to reduce the tie duty by providing more ties.

Robin James, NASC’s Managing Director said: “We are very excited about the launch of TG20:13. It is a hugely improved, more user-friendly and modernised guidance system, which we are confident our members – and the wider industry – will see as revolutionary. The NASC has invested huge sums of money into the research and development of TG20:13 and aims to resolve some of the areas of TG20:08 that do not match practice. We are very confident it will be a huge success and positively received by members and the wider industry, as it has been in the NASC Regional Member and Council meetings.”

NASC President Rob Lynch said: “We are all very positive about TG20:13. And the new e-Guide is especially exciting. It was a risk we took developing this, but it’s exceeded all our expectations. We believe if you are having scaffold on site, you will need the e-Guide; every site should have one. And we believe that the TG20:13 e-Guide will be an essential tool for every site manager and every safety consultant – providing an accessible and reliable reference point for assessing the safety and compliance of scaffolds.”

The TG20:13 Management Guide and Design Guide are currently under final review by the NASC and the e-Guide is being completed and tested. Currently, all existing guidance remains valid. The new TG20:13 will be launched by the NASC this autumn.