CASE STUDY — COMMERCIAL
British Gas, Dartford, Kent
Large-scale solar panel scaffold across a multi-bay commercial warehouse
British Gas is one of the UK's largest energy companies and one of the most active commercial solar installation programmes in the country. When a large multi-bay warehouse in Dartford, Kent required scaffold access for a major solar panel installation across its roof, Pinnacle Scaffolding was appointed to design and erect the access structure.
The job required scaffold coverage across a significant warehouse roof — multiple bays, substantial square footage, and the kind of programme coordination that a large commercial solar installation demands. The scaffold had to be in place, signed off, and handed over to the installation team before panel installation could begin. It then had to be struck efficiently once the installation was complete, to keep the overall programme on schedule.
The Challenge
Large commercial warehouse roofs present a different set of challenges to standard residential solar scaffold. The roof area on a multi-bay warehouse is substantial — the scaffold structure covering it needs to be designed for safe working at height across a large, often complex roof profile, with load requirements that differ significantly from a domestic pitched roof platform. Access to the site, coordination with the solar installation programme, and erection sequencing across multiple bays all need to be planned and agreed before work begins.
Commercial solar clients operate to tight installation schedules. The scaffold contractor is at the front of the programme: if the structure is not in place and signed off when the installers arrive, the whole project stalls. Pinnacle understands this dynamic and builds it into how every commercial solar job is planned.
Our Approach
Pinnacle designed and erected scaffold access across the full warehouse roof in Dartford, covering the multiple bays required for the British Gas solar installation programme. The structure was designed to provide safe, compliant working platforms for the installation team across the full roof area, with access, handrails, and toe boards to Working at Height Regulations standard throughout.
Erection was sequenced to hand over each section of the scaffold to the installation team as it was completed, keeping the programme moving rather than waiting for the full structure to be finished before any panel work could begin. On completion of the installation, the scaffold was struck efficiently and the site handed back clean.
RAMS documentation, method statements, and public liability insurance were provided as standard. Every operative held a current CISRS card.
Pinnacle Scaffolding at work on the British Gas warehouse solar installation, Dartford, Kent.
KEY CREDENTIALS
What We Delivered
This is the kind of commercial solar job that requires more than a scaffolding company — it requires a contractor that understands programme management, can coordinate with a large commercial client, and delivers a structure that the installation team can work from safely and confidently from day one.
If you are a solar installation company, a commercial property owner, or a main contractor with warehouse or large-roof access requirements, call us to discuss your programme. We offer trade terms for solar companies with regular commercial installation pipelines.