44 | ScaffTech Solutions T T Virginia Wright Scaffolding services across the board CONTRACTING Brett Munyard and Rex Sycamore had been working in the scaffolding business for decades when they decided it was time there was a scaffolding company run by locals to service the local market in Invercargill and Southland. Scafftech Solutions opened for business on January 17, 2022. With Brett as operations manager and Rex the business development manager, they were ready to service industrial and commercial, as well as residential clients from the start. “We started with 15 staff and around 30 house-loads of gear, which we’ve been adding to as the business grows. We don’t turn down work. We’ll buy more gear if we have to, or move it around to give the clients what they need,” says Brett. Scafftech’s scaffolding supports safe and efficient construction, as well as maintenance, event projects and disaster mitigation. Health & Safety is at the heart of the scaffolding business, making it safe for people to work on roofs, demo buildings and attain safe access to places where a fall can mean permanent injury, or death. Scafftech Solutions has a healthy list of industrial and commercial clients, many of which have been with them from the beginning, thanks to local connections wanting to work with locals. Dairy factories and processors, meat-processing plants, fertiliser plants – the list goes on of clients with buildings needing regular maintenance requiring safe access, and because the downtime to address such issues is generally in winter, that’s often Scafftech Solutions’ busiest time. It’s an ideal counterbalance for the residential work, which SPOUTING • Specialists in interior and exterior painting • Tailored solutions to meet your needs • Local expertise, professional results • Large geographical footprint Get in touch! Visit: 48A Spey Street, Invercargill Phone: Nicole 027 477 3745 South Island Commercial Painting Experts is busiest through summer, and exactly why Brett and Rex wanted to target that market and ensure they could service it from the start. Scaffolding is now a full apprenticeship. “If we get young guys in and they’re keen and doing a good job I’ll definitely sign them up,” says Brett. “We have very skilled staff – in my opinion some of the best scaffolders in New Zealand, and I’ve seen a lot of scaffolders over the years. The more skilled your guys are the more productive they are, and if you put the training into them you get the results.” A recent storm that ripped through the South Island meant Scafftech Solutions were stretched to capacity helping people and businesses with call-outs for windows damaged and roofs blown off. “They needed us to give them safe access to be able to repair the damage, especially where there was danger to the public. In a nutshell, we were there to provide access for them to be able to do their work,” says Brett. Also after the storm they installed one of their temporary roof systems on a large house in town that had lost half its roof, in a set-up that’s increasingly common. “We put up the scaffold structure, then put up a temporary roof over the top. We either use shrink-wrap, or more recently the KEDA roof system, which is a combination of roof trusses and waterproof canvas, which keeps it watertight. “It’s a lot more durable and withstands a lot more wind, which we need down here, obviously. It’s already our third job with it,” explains Brett.
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