46 | Leaders in the game Northland Scaffolding has undertaken many important infrastructure projects like upgrading railway bridges in more remote locations. Northland Scaffolding T T Russell Fredric CONTRACTING Northland Scaffolding has established a strong foothold in the region since Chris Douglas launched the business in 2002. The company has evolved from roof edge protection systems when Chris owned a roofing business to now providing a full range of scaffolding systems, temporary fencing, safety nets and ground protection mats, from its branches in Whangarei, Kerikeri and Dargaville. After establishing Northland Scaffolding, Chris made the decision early on use German engineered Layher scaffolding as its preferred system. The high quality engineering and progressive product development of Layher Scaffolding has provided Northland Scaffolding with the right equipment to produce some truly innovative scaffolding solutions, Chris says. “When I came into the scaffolding industry, it was the rise of what we call proprietary scaffolding systems so its gone from the old tube and coupler, which are single lengths of scaffold tube put together with metal couplers and wooden planks, to a more advanced systems.” The key advantage is the much faster speeds the components can be connected to each other due to the design of Lahyer’s Allround coupling system which creates incredible efficiencies for Northland Scaffolding, its staff and its clients. “Comparing a (conventional) tube and clip system to a proprietary scaffold system, you can save 50% in labour, it’s massive. The majority of the cost is the labour, putting the scaffold up and down and if you can save 50% on that you can pass that on to your customers benefiting the whole construction industry.” In addition to the introduction of proprietary systems, there have also been some significant innovations industry wide. These include the use of full building wrap and roof systems, which have dramatically increased in the past decade as a method of containment and weather proofing, Chris says. These originated for providing weatherproofing during the remediation of leaky homes. They discovered that while they were trying to keep these house’s waterproof, they were getting incredible increases in productivity because they weren’t having downtime due to weather events.” Other innovations include the Keder Roof System, a multiple-use curtain system, similar to an awning that slides on a track, eliminating the need for plastic shrink wrap and the subsequent problem of its disposal, or the flex beam system for creating large, stable working platforms with a high load capacity. These are extremely versatile and can span considerable lengths and widths above or below the structure that is being worked on. Northland Scaffolding has undertaken high profile projects such as the fire damaged Whangarei Town Hall and the new Whangarei Civic centre as well as important infrastructure projects like upgrading railway bridges in more remote locations. For the town hall which had a fire three years ago, the Keder Roof system has allowed time for some difficult decisions while preserving the historic building from further degradation, even through multiple weather events including Cyclone Gabrielle. The company is currently working on a significant project for KiwiRail which is undertaking substantial track and infrastructure works in Northland. Kamo Parts 579 Kamo Road, Kamo, Whangarei www.kamoparts.co.nz 09 4354050 AUTOMOTIVE AND PERFORMANCE PARTS Support for your business journey Call us on 09 470 1820 or 0800 102 173 Email us at accounting@bridgeadvisory.co.nz We are proud to provide Northland Sca olding Limited with business advisory and chartered accountancy services www.bridgeadvisory.co.nz
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