CASE STUDY — COMMERCIAL
Housing Association Regeneration, East London
Exterior painting scaffold across approximately 50 properties on multiple streets — coordinated with the council, the housing association, and residents throughout
Most scaffold contracts involve one building, one client, and one address. This was not that. Pinnacle was awarded a housing association regeneration contract covering approximately 50 residential properties across multiple streets in East London — a programme of exterior painting works designed to improve the appearance and condition of the housing stock as part of a wider area regeneration initiative.
The properties ranged from Victorian and Edwardian terraces over 100 years old to Edwardian semis, period mansion blocks, and larger detached properties. Each one required individual scaffold design. Each one had residents living in it throughout. And the whole programme required ongoing coordination with the housing association, the local council for pavement licences on every street, and the residents of each property before erection could begin.
The Challenge
A programme contract of this scale is a logistics operation as much as a scaffolding job. The challenge is not any single property — it is managing 50 of them in sequence, across different streets, with different property types, different access conditions, and different residents at every address.
The period properties that make up the majority of the stock present the specific challenges of Victorian and Edwardian construction: lime mortar joints that cannot accept standard wall ties without risk of damage, decorative stucco facades, ornate cornices and window surrounds, and in some cases the bay window and portico features that define this generation of London housing. Floating scaffold — where all loads are transferred to the ground rather than into the building — was required across a significant proportion of the programme to protect these facades.
Every property on a public street requires a pavement licence before erection can begin. Across multiple streets and approximately 50 properties, that means multiple licence applications to the local authority, each submitted in advance, each managed to the application timeline. Miss one and the programme stalls on that street.
The residents are the other dimension. People are living in these properties throughout the contract. They need advance notice before scaffold goes up outside their front door. They need to be able to get in and out of their homes safely during erection and while the scaffold is standing. And they need the team on site to behave in a way that is appropriate for a residential street — not a commercial construction site.
Our Approach
Pinnacle managed the full programme across all properties, coordinating pavement licence applications with the local authority for each street in advance of the erection schedule. Each application was submitted with sufficient lead time to keep the programme moving without delays caused by licence processing.
Resident communication was handled as part of the standard programme management. Each household received advance notice before erection at their property. Erection was timed to minimise disruption to residents accessing their homes, and the team on site maintained a standard of conduct appropriate for occupied residential streets throughout.
The scaffold design was assessed individually at each property. Where the period facade required it, floating scaffold was erected with all loads transferred to the ground, protecting lime mortar joints, stucco, and decorative features from any contact loads. Standard tie systems were used where the construction permitted it.
RAMS documentation and method statements were provided to the housing association before the programme began. Every operative held a current CISRS card throughout the contract.
KEY CREDENTIALS
What We Delivered
Programme scaffold contracts for housing associations and local authorities require a different kind of contractor to a single-site job. The logistics, the coordination, the resident management, and the documentation have to work at scale — not just for one address but for every address on the programme simultaneously. Pinnacle has the experience, the directly employed team, and the programme management approach to deliver contracts of this type.
If you are a housing association, local authority, or managing agent with a programme of scaffold works across multiple properties, call us to discuss your requirements.