Summit Scaffolding has expanded its operations to the Waikato with an eye to the region’s growth.
The Auckland-based company, established in 2010, shifted into its brand new Waikato storage warehouse in February this year.
The 4,100 square metre site in the Hamilton airport precinct sees Summit Scaffolding doubling its storage space.
The cheaper cost of land in the Waikato compared to Auckland was part of the appeal for the company, but there were also more strategic reasons for the shift.
“The Waikato is a growth region,” director John Scott says. “It’s mainly focused on produce, an area of the economy that doesn’t slow.
“We see the Waikato as a dynamic region.”
The building at 127 Ingram Road was a Foster Construction project and Scott says the well-known Waikato firm couldn’t have been better to work with.
The firm, which has about 150 staff total, is starting with 12 staff in the Waikato and aims to increase that to 30.
Summit Scaffolding offers a wide array of services.
Summit Scaffolding Waikato is a leading provider and installer of residential, commercial, civil and industrial scaffolding. The company also offers an equipment hire and sales division.
Waikato branch manager Gary Pearson is originally from the UK, and is an advanced scaffolder with 30 years’ experience worldwide.
The company can supply tools and manpower for any scaffolding job. It has a focus on intensive and ongoing staff training and certification, exceeding standard certifications.
With its new storage space, Summit Scaffolding Waikato is focused on expanding its services to reach a wide geographical area. The fleet of 32 working vehicles means it can easily reach clients north and south.
It uses four main brands of scaffold:
Tube and fitting scaffold.
Kwikstage scaffolding.
K Guard Edge Protection (https://kguard.co.uk/): Concrete frame edge protection, steel frame edge protection, debris guard barriers, structural steelwork protection and safety walkways.
vertemax.com/products/catchfan/ (containment system against falling objects).
Summit Scaffolding Waikato also provides a working platform width of 1 metre – more than the standard usage of 750mm which it says in its experience is inadequate for work access, storing of material and safety.
The company provides industrial scaffold and shoring systems for a full range of jobs, including capital projects, upgrades and modifications, shutdowns and turnarounds.
The management team is well versed in workplace safety management practices including health and safety assessments, giving quotations, design plans and site audits. All installers hold a current Site Safe Card, and their supervisors, including Pearson, hold Site Safe Gold Cards.
Summit Scaffolding has been involved in major projects in Auckland and the Waikato. That includes a three-year Auckland International Airport upgrade, undertaken in a working airport with Summit’s staff working 24 hours seven days a week in shift patterns. It also provided the access for the two ventilation buildings and additional tunnel works in the Waterview tunnel in Auckland, a project that ran for two years. Prison construction and development work includes for Wiri, Paremoremo and Springhill.
One major component of the scaffolding practice is installing the support mechanisms which hold a temporarily non-supported structure firm and stable. This process, called propping (falsework) and shore loading, enables safe access to a project while preserving and protecting the skeleton. Summit Scaffolding Waikato provides the propping (or falsework) and shore loading services needed to support the weight of the structure under repair or renovation. This removes any risk of building or construction collapse and allows contractors safe access while work is undertaken.
When it comes to residential requirements, Summit Waikato covers the range from installing the scaffold for a new house paint job, right through to tailoring scaffold to access an architecturally designed ‘tricky to reach’ roof replacement.
The hire and sales division, managed by Howard Pan, gives options to engineers, builders and contractors to hire short or long-term, or buy the products Summit backs.
It recommends Kwikserv equipment, which it has designed and manufactured in accordance with Australian and New Zealand standards in its factory in China.
Kwikserv products are manufactured under strict quality control supervision, the company says, and meet all New Zealand and Australian specifications and have been certified by SGS to achieve ISO9001:2000 standards.
Summit Scaffolding Waikato imports Kwikserv products including Kwikscaff and Kwikstage systems, KSL Tube and Fittings, Ringlock systems, KSL Falsework, KSL Propping and accessories.
The company is affiliated to the SARNZ (Scaffolding, Access and Rigging New Zealand) framework. The Health and Safety Act 2015 and the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995 are central to its procedures.
It is fully compliant with the Good Practice Guidelines for Scaffolding in New Zealand 2016. The company uses the Acute Construction Intelligence Programme which monitors health and safety performance and audits all sites on a regular basis. This information is gathered and shared to ensure full transparency of all its practices.
Scott founded Summit Scaffolding in 2010 after a career that began at the Civil Engineering College at Bircham Newton in the UK.
He completed his training in 1987 as an advanced scaffolder working around Portsmouth, UK, where he was a charge hand on all aspects of scaffolding including commercial, residential and marine. He also worked in London before migrating to Auckland in 2003, where he worked for Pacific Scaffolding, ultimately becoming contracts manager before setting up Summit Scaffolding.
Scott holds a National Certificate in Advanced Scaffolding and a Site Safe Gold Card. When it comes to the Waikato, he sees an optimistic future.
“It’s a region that’s not yet filled its full potential but we see it doing that in the next 10 to 15 years. It’s a good place to be doing business.”
