Back to Resources
Guide8 min read
Mastering Scaffold Hire Tracking
A practical guide to implementing a foolproof system for tracking extra hire and ending revenue leakage.
Extra hire is one of the most significant and most overlooked revenue streams in scaffolding. When a client keeps a scaffold up past the originally contracted period and that time is not tracked, the contractor absorbs the cost silently. This guide walks through the root causes of hire revenue leakage, the manual processes most firms use today, and the exact steps to put a reliable, automated system in place.
Key takeaways
- Most scaffolding contractors lose 7–12% of annual turnover to untracked extra hire — the equivalent of one medium-sized job per year.
- The three root causes of leakage: no erection date recorded, no systematic off-hire trigger, and invoicing disconnected from site status.
- A reliable hire tracking system needs four data points per job: erection date, agreed hire period, off-hire request date, and dismantle confirmation.
- Automated alerts for overdue hire reviews eliminate the need for manual diary checks and ensure no job slips through unnoticed.
- Connecting hire tracking to your invoice workflow means hire charges are captured automatically rather than chased retrospectively.