Platform height explained

What the platform height of a mobile scaffold actually is

The platform height is the distance from the ground to the deck you stand on. You measure to the top of the platform, not to the guardrail above it and not to the highest point of the structure. A scaffold with a platform at 6 metres still has guardrails that reach a good deal higher, and those guardrails are not part of the figure. Anyone judging a scaffold from the pavement therefore almost always overestimates the platform height.

The platform itself is a closed deck with a hatch, so you climb up from the inside. On the RS51 and the RS52 that platform is 245 cm long, which means you stand at exactly the same height across its full length. Platform height is therefore not a point but a surface: you can walk back and forth within those 245 cm without your height changing. That keeps the arithmetic simple, because one number is enough.

Where the top platform ends up is decided during assembly. You build the scaffold yourself, using the manual and the instruction video supplied with the delivery; we deliver the scaffold in parts and do not assemble it for you. The height you reserve is the height at which the scaffold is complete, including every part that belongs to that build, as set out in the hire checklist.

Working height is platform height plus two metres

The rule is short: working height equals platform height plus 2 metres. Those 2 metres represent the reach of an average adult stretching upwards from the deck. Stand on a platform at 6 metres and your hand reaches roughly 8 metres. That 8 metres is the working height, and it is the figure you reserve with.

It works just as easily in reverse. If you see a working height of 10.2 metres, the platform sits at 8.2 metres. At 14.2 metres working height you stand at 12.2 metres. So you never have to memorise two sets of numbers: there are always exactly 2 metres between the height you stand at and the height at which you can still fix or paint something.

Those 2 metres are an average, not a guarantee. If you are noticeably taller or shorter, your real reach shifts with you. And reaching to your limit is not something you keep up for hours: working above shoulder height costs far more effort than working at chest height. How to work back from your job to a size you can order is set out step by step in the guide on calculating working height.

Why this site quotes working height almost everywhere

Our configurator, the price pages and every product page use working height. That is deliberate: customers usually know how high they need to reach, but rarely know what height they want to stand at. By building the reach into the figure, you no longer have to add anything yourself and you pick the scaffold that suits the job straight away.

The individual height pages follow the same logic. Every size in the range has its own page, from 4 up to and including 14 metres, all listed in the working height overview. There you can see per size which models are available and what you can reach with them.

If you think in floors rather than metres, that works too. The page about working on the second floor translates a storey into a working height, so you do not have to estimate how many metres a floor of your building is.

Platform height per working height in our range

The table below puts the two figures side by side for the heights we hire out. The platform height is always the working height minus 2 metres. On the room scaffold the deck sits lower, because that model is built for interior work.

Which models cover which heights

The RS51 and the RS52 together cover the full range from 4.2 to 14.2 metres working height. They do not differ in height but in width: the RS51 is 75 cm wide and the RS52 is 135 cm wide. Both carry the same 245 cm platform, so the platform height for a given size is identical. You choose between them based on the space you have and the material that has to come up with you.

The MiTower is the one-person scaffold and reaches roughly 6 metres working height, which is a platform at roughly 4 metres. Above that limit you move to the RS51 or the RS52. The RS44 room scaffold sits at the other end of the range and is intended for rooms and hallways.

All equipment comes from Altrex and is built to EN 1004, in load class 3. That means 200 kg per square metre of platform. This load does not change with height: at 12 metres your platform may carry just as much as at 4 metres.

What you can actually reach from a given platform

Your working zone runs from slightly below the deck to about 2 metres above it. Working downwards is fine as long as you stay inside the guardrails; leaning over the rail to reach a little lower is exactly what you should avoid. In practice, a platform at 6 metres comfortably covers the band between roughly 5 and 8 metres.

Comfortable work sits between hip and shoulder height. Anyone who sands or paints above their head all day will feel it in their arms. If you have a choice, set the platform so that the bulk of the job ends up at chest height. On a long facade that sometimes means moving the scaffold once and carrying on at a different height.

Platform height also decides where your materials go. Paint, tools and a bucket belong on the deck, not in your hand. For work on the gutter you want the deck just below the gutter, so you can work with both hands and the gutter sits in front of you at a workable height.

Indoors, platform height decides whether it fits

Outdoors the working height is the deciding figure; indoors it is the platform height plus the guardrails. The ceiling gets in the way long before your reach becomes the limit. So indoors, always work back to the deck first and then check how much room the structure still needs above that deck.

The RS44 room scaffold is built for exactly this. It fits through a standard interior door from about 70 cm, so you can roll it fully assembled from one room to the next instead of dismantling it each time. In stairwells, tall halls and living rooms with a void that is the difference between half a day of carrying and simply carrying on. More situations are covered in the guide on using a mobile scaffold indoors.

• Measure the clear height from floor to ceiling and watch for beams, light fittings and suspended ceilings.
• Count the room the guardrails take up above the deck; that has to fit as well.
• Check whether the assembled scaffold can pass through the doorway into the next room.
• Make sure the floor is level and solid, and put something under the wheels to spread the load if needed.
• Keep turning room free so you can lift long parts upright without hitting a wall or a stair rail.

The height moves in steps of one metre

You cannot order an arbitrary platform height. The range runs from 4.2 metres working height to 14.2 metres working height in steps of one metre: 4.2, then 5.2, then 6.2 and so on. Translated into platform height that is 2.2, 3.2, 4.2 and upwards. If your calculation lands between two sizes, take the next one up.

Choosing too high is something you solve on the scaffold, by working slightly bent or by setting the deck one frame lower during assembly. Choosing too low cannot be solved. Then you are on tiptoe, or you start improvising with a step, which is exactly where things go wrong. The limits and the conditions that come with them are set out in the guide on how high a mobile scaffold may go.

If you want to see what a specific size delivers in practice, you can click through per height. The page on 8 metres working height, for instance, shows which models are available at that size and what sort of jobs it is normally used for.

The higher the platform, the more the build involves

A higher platform simply means more parts. Every frame you add has to be lifted from the ground and clicked into place, and that work is yours to do. For the lower sizes you usually manage on your own; from a platform at four or five metres a second pair of hands is welcome, if only to pass parts up while the other person stands on the deck. So with the taller sizes, count on a longer build as well as a longer hire.

The order stays the same at every height: level the base, wheels on the brake, frame by frame upwards, deck in place, guardrails fitted and only then climb through. That sequence is set out in the step by step assembly guide. Skip a step because it is only one frame higher, and you are standing in exactly the wrong place the moment something goes wrong.

The importance of the base grows with the height. Stabilisers reach further out as the platform sits higher, and above a certain height the scaffold belongs tied to the facade. What that involves, from extending the outriggers to fixing the tower, is covered in the guide on stabilising and anchoring. So measure not only the height, but also the clear space around the scaffold.

Length and width belong to the height story

Height is one of three measurements you give, and the other two shape the job just as strongly. The 245 cm platform is the same on both mobile scaffolds, so you move the tower just as often whether you hire narrow or wide. Width mainly decides how much you can keep beside you and how solid the whole thing feels.

The narrow RS51 at 75 cm fits through gates, along garden paths and between a fence and a facade. The wide RS52 at 135 cm gives you room to work with two people or to lay a roll of roofing felt down next to you. Both are listed on the page where you hire a mobile scaffold, with all dimensions per model.

The full set of measurements, including assembled footprint and the space the stabilisers take up, is collected in the overview of dimensions and sizes. Useful if you want to know whether the scaffold fits on your drive or back path before you start calculating heights.

Where the two figures get mixed up most often

Most confusion appears when comparing. One supplier calls a tower a 6 metre scaffold, another calls the same thing 8 metres, and both are right: the first means the platform, the second the working height. So always ask which figure a number refers to before you put two options side by side.

It happens within a job too. A contractor who says the work is at 8 metres almost always means the point on the facade, not the height someone stands at. The same applies when you weigh up a ladder against a mobile scaffold: ladder sizes refer to the length of the ladder, not to the height at which you can safely stand.

• A quotation names a height without saying whether it is platform height or working height.
• The facade height is used while the actual work point at the gutter sits considerably lower.
• The total height of the assembled scaffold is confused with the height of the deck.
• Ladder sizes are compared one to one with scaffold sizes, although they are measured differently.
• The reach is counted twice: once while measuring and again while ordering.

From the right height to a scaffold at your door

Once you know the working height you need, you reserve in the configurator. There you choose model, height and hire period, and you see the total straight away. The first hire day counts as a full day and every following day is charged at 5 percent of that day rate, so working on longer costs little extra. The breakdown per height is on the page about the cost of hiring a mobile scaffold.

Order before 15:00 and the scaffold is at your door the next working day, anywhere in the Netherlands. Delivery and collection are charged as one fixed amount per province; what that is for your address is shown under delivery costs. Collecting it yourself is free by appointment, at Zeeburgerpad 89 in Amsterdam.

If you are hesitating between two heights, send a photo of the facade through WhatsApp. We will look with you and name the size we would take. Calling or emailing works just as well through the contact page.