Gaining experience with a construction company or scaffolding contractor business and working your way up through the organization and regional certification ranks can help you become a scaffolding supervisor. Before you can become a scaffolding supervisor, you’ll need a lot of carpentry and construction experience because the job entails managing construction workers who build scaffolding structures. Scaffolding supervisors work for both larger corporations and contracting firms. Working in basic construction can help you get a foot in the door of the scaffolding industry. This will open doors to specialized experiences where you will gain scaffolding experience required to obtain certifications to operate as a scaffolding supervisor in accordance with any regional standards.
In most cases, a high school diploma is all that is required to work as a scaffolding supervisor. Carpentry courses taken at community colleges or vocational schools can help you advance your personal qualifications for the job. The majority of scaffolding workers advance their careers through experience and on-the-job training. Starting at the apprentice level in some areas, there is a predetermined path to reach the certification level required to become a scaffolding supervisor.
Scaffolding certification usually requires a certain number of hours of experience and the passing of a test covering basic knowledge and safety standards. Apprentice scaffolding builders work under the supervision and guidance of scaffolding supervisors at first. The scaffolding builder can advance to journeyman status after accumulating enough hours and passing tests. It is possible to progress from here to become a scaffolding supervisor and train other workers.
How quickly you can become a scaffolding supervisor is also determined by your company’s seniority. Even if you have the highest level of certification required in a region, there may be many others with more experience than you who are vying for a position as a company supervisor. In these situations, you may be able to branch out and start working as a scaffolding supervisor on a freelance basis. You’d then hire your own workers and look for contracting jobs on your own.
The scaffolding supervisor’s job on a job site is to ensure that structures are put together correctly and safely. The work is primarily manual labor, and it is subject to seasonal variations depending on weather conditions. Scaffolding is used to build structures as well as to assemble stages. The scaffolding team is also responsible for tearing down and removing any leftover scaffolding assemblies after a structure or event is completed.