Scaffold types
Putlog Scaffolds
The putlog scaffold is the bricklayer’s scaffold: a single row of standards on the outside, with the building itself doing the work of the inner row. It rises with the brickwork it serves – and depends on that brickwork for its support.
How a putlog scaffold works
A putlog scaffold consists of a single row of standards, parallel to the face of the building and set far enough out to take a platform of four or five boards, with the inner edge of the platform as close to the wall as is practicable. The standards are connected by a ledger fixed with right angle couplers, and the putlogs are fixed to the ledgers using putlog couplers.
The defining component is the putlog tube itself: a tube with a flattened end, or one fitted with a blade, which is inserted into or rested upon the brickwork – normally placed horizontally on the course being built, using the maximum bearing area. Half the scaffold’s support comes from the wall, which is why the putlog scaffold is inseparable from new brickwork construction.
Where it fits – and where it doesn’t
Putlog scaffolds suit traditional low-rise brick construction: houses, boundary walls, extensions rising course by course. They’re economical on tube and quick to erect alongside the bricklaying gang. They’re the wrong answer where the wall can’t take the bearing – old or weak masonry, cavity work without care, or any facade that won’t be there throughout the job. In those cases an independent tied scaffold, which stands on its own two rows of standards, is the correct choice.
Bracing and ties
Sole boards or base plates go under each standard, and sway bracing is required at intervals not exceeding 30 m – though unlike an independent tied scaffold, ledger bracing is not required in the finished putlog scaffold. The same number of ties applies as for an independent tied scaffold: the wall may carry the putlogs, but the structure still needs tying to resist movement.
Working with the bricklaying gang
A putlog scaffold is unusual in being erected in instalments, in step with the trade it serves. The scaffolder returns as each lift of brickwork completes, raising the scaffold onto the new courses – which means the handover-and-alteration cycle that happens once on most scaffolds happens repeatedly here. Every raise is an alteration, every alteration needs a competent person and a re-check before the platform is loaded again. It also means coordination: bricks landed ahead of the gang, mortar boards positioned, and the platform kept clear enough to actually lay from. The tools guide covers the tethering and handling kit that keeps that busy platform safe.
Reading the wall
Because half the structure’s support is the building, the wall condition is a structural decision, not a background detail. Green brickwork needs time before it can take putlog bearing loads; older walls being repointed or repaired may have nothing sound to bear on at all. Where openings, lintels or weak panels interrupt the bearing line, putlogs are repositioned or the design shifts locally to independent standards. When in doubt, the safe default is always the fully self-supporting independent tied scaffold – more tube, more time, no arguments with the masonry.
The insurance angle
Because putlog scaffolds are bound up with live bricklaying, the loading changes constantly – stacked bricks, mortar boards, and a platform that’s always at the working lift. Overloading is the classic failure. Agree platform duties, keep the decking complete as lifts rise, and make sure your liability cover reflects work on occupied streets and domestic frontages where these scaffolds most often stand – complete with the signage and, after dark on the highway, the lighting those locations demand.
Putlog scaffold FAQs
What is a putlog in scaffolding?
A putlog is a transom with a flattened or bladed end that bears on the brickwork instead of an inner ledger – the component that lets the wall replace the inner row of standards. The same word names the coupler used to fix board-bearing transoms to ledgers.
Why is it called a bricklayer’s scaffold?
Because it evolved with brick construction: it rises course by course with the wall, uses the new brickwork for support, and puts the platform exactly at the working lift the bricklayers need.
Can a putlog scaffold be used on an existing building?
Rarely well. It needs sound brickwork that can accept and bear the putlog ends, which usually means new work in progress. On finished or older buildings, an access scaffold of the independent type is almost always the right answer.
Does a putlog scaffold still need ties?
Yes – the same number of ties applies as for an independent tied scaffold. The wall carries the putlogs’ vertical load, but the structure still needs tying to resist movement, with sway bracing at intervals not exceeding 30 m.
Built with the wall, insured for the street
Putlog scaffolds live on domestic frontages and public pavements – exactly where liability cover earns its keep.