Specialist focus: Access & Scaffolding: Counterfeit scaffolding

Anyone with children knows how irritating the game of 'copycat' can become. What starts out as humorous imitation rapidly descends into distraction and frustration. In the world of system scaffolding, however, the consequences can be much more serious.

The problem is the proliferation of imitation parts designed to be - or at least appearing to be - compatible with the systems designed by reputable manufacturers. "We are seeing more and more copycat products coming into the UK and it's a big issue for the industry," confirms Kevin Mouatt, managing director of SGB Special Projects and president of the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC). "You end up with two scaffold fittings that look identical, but one is only able to take half the load of the other because it's a copy."

The consequences in terms of the disparity in performance are confirmed by Paul Brunt, managing director of system manufacturer Haki. "We've bought some of these products and tested them in all sorts of ways including spectral analysis of the steel that's been used. Some of them are not even half the strength of our original product."

Identifying the problem is one thing determining its scale is quite another. "It's very difficult to put a finger on it," laments Neil Tomlinson, the NASC's marketing manager. "Only when you use a product do you realise that good parts have become contaminated by bad parts. We just don't know how many rogue parts are out there."

The issue is more serious than just the quantity of dubious parts, however. Kevin Mouatt again: "When it becomes a problem is when the design engineer on a job believes genuine products are being used, but in fact they're not. This means they apply the same design data to the copycat product but it's not as good. This is potentially highly dangerous since it can support only half the loads. The contractor uses a system thinking he can apply 3kN per m3 on a scaffold, for example, but then it gets to about 1.5kN and collapses."

Rogue components

Neil Tomlinson agrees. "Potentially you could have a system made up of a million components with just one rogue element in it, and that one element could cause the whole structure to fail. It may only be one piece, but it could be used in a critical point."

Nor should the fact that such a catastrophic failure hasn't yet been identified in the UK be a reason for inaction. "We can't point to specific instances of a scaffolding collapse in the UK having been caused by using a copycat product - apart from anything else, looking for the specific cause of these accidents is like looking for a needle in a haystack," explains Brunt. "But we do know of cases on the Continent and in Scandinavia. The fact that nothing's happened here so far isn't a defence for doing nothing."

Tomlinson is even more blunt: "It's pretty much a ticking time bomb."

With such potentially devastating consequences, the question that remains is why does the use of copycat products seem to be growing?

"It's like most things these days," Tomlinson continues. "You can go to China or India or Eastern Europe and get pretty much anything copied - and the nature of this copying is to make it compatible with the original so it's very difficult to tell it apart. It's part of the general drive to cut costs - look at the demands placed recently by major contractors to reduce supply costs by 5% to 10%. It's not cloak and dagger stuff - people are knowingly buying these products."

Nevertheless, the problem is not that those in charge of procurement are intentionally cutting corners on safety. Instead, according to Sean Pike, managing director of Layher, the problem is that they don't appear to be aware of the consequences of their actions. "There is an onus on contractors under the CDM regulations to inform themselves, but half the time they don't know what they should be looking for unless we come along and tell them."

In a marketplace as cut-throat as the construction industry, this can prove problematic. "Layher, like all other original scaffolding equipment manufacturers, is an innovator rather than an imitator," says Pike. "The driver for this is competition, and we thrive on this as it allows us to raise standards in terms of both quality and safety. But the key is fair competition. The customer has the right to choose but they must be able to make an informed choice - that means being informed about why the products are cheaper."

For Pike, the answers are clear. "They [the counterfeiters] don't use quality materials. Our steel suppliers tell us how difficult it is to get high-yield steel in the countries where these parts are made. If you haven't got decent material to start with, you can't possibly have decent end-product.

"Then the manufacturing procedures are questionable - manual welding, for example. We've tested copycat products and found the weld breaks before the part. This should never happen. There's also the absence of testing. It costs a lot to conduct tests, both of the raw material and the finished products."

Problem solving

So what can the industry do to tackle the issue? Options appear limited. "It's not illegal, which is one of the problems we've got," admits Mouatt. "However, as an industry we have agreed a charter through the NASC under which NASC members sign up to use only genuine products."

This code of practice has been written and is currently going through an in-house process of approval, says Tomlinson. "The aim is to have an auditing procedure for all companies that supply system scaffolding. At the end of the day it doesn't matter where the system is made - what matters is to make sure it's of sufficient quality so contractors can rest assured."

Brunt agrees. "We're not saying all scaffolding products from China or India are bad, but that they need to prove they are good - as we do through our standards procedures. The code calls for clear markings and an ID system to allow people to know where a product has come from.

"For example, we can identify a part made in one of our factories 20 years ago, and even which batch it came from. If all users and specifiers apply the NASC code, the end-user can be fully confident about the products."

Some say even more stringent measures should be taken. "It's a start but it's not far enough," says Pike. "We shouldn't just be concerned about the traceability of products, we should physically be testing them."

Even the likely arguments about inhibition of trade do not deter him. "There are stricter regimes like this elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, if a product hasn't got type approval, it can't be used. In France you can be fined or imprisoned if you use it, Italy is the same and Spain and the Netherlands are similar."

When it comes to scaffolding, it seems, imitation is far from the sincerest form of flattery.