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Fitting shop front sign….. tight location!
Evening all!
Might get this job assuming my quote goes down well. I got two estate agent fascias to do – one is in a pedestrianised area and is nice and easy. The other is on a busy street corner where the footpath is only about 4 ft wide and round the corner is a traffic light crossing.
Now I have a platform setup which I use for putting up such signs as we all do, but where do I stand in terms of H&S with regards to pedestrians and their access to the path>
Do I need to cone/tape the area off, display warning signs or what? Never done anything yet on a busy town location, and I don’t fancy getting into arguments with both pedestrians and the local council.
Obviously I cannot force people to walk onto the busy road, so I really am pushed. Suppose my best possible choice would be to install at 8am on a Sunday morning (will be end Jan at earliest).
Just pricing the job up now, and I came to the installation factor….. hence the questions.
Any advice from experienced fitters would be more than welcome!
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14 Replies
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If you are obstructing the footpath/road you will find that you probably need to get permission from your local council … they have to approve it first … and they charge you … its basically a permit. Although every council is different?
We would probably opt to do the job very early morning on a Sunday not many peeps about.
😀
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carrie is right the Council can make you stop if they catch you so id go for either the early option or cones and barrier tape to cone you off and cones to create a safe passage for pedestrians to walk in the road you will also need men working overhead etc and ppe including hi vis vests
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ok, I have emailed my local borough council to see what they say. meanwhile a stupid question…… is it MY responsibility to notify council and get permits or is it THE SHOP OWNER who needs to do this??
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Phil,
the permits for you to obstruct the highway, road or pavement is down to you. You will probably have to provide proof of Public liability Insurance as well & if they send an inspector then make sure you have all your H&S in place.Kev
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Phil, I am assuming having read your post that you normally just throw your platform up and away you go.I’m not picking on you at all as I see lots of sign companys doing this all the time but I wonder how many of these companys would be able to use there public liability insurance to pay out a claim if an accident happened.
I always cone the area I am working in off and place warning signs because the way I see it is if something were to fall on a pedestrian the first question the insurance company are going to ask is what steps did you take to try and prevent this happening. -
martin I do generally do this if I am at a private location – only been 3 occassions in the last year as I mainly do small signs, vans and general vinyl work including windows. In these instances there have been no passers by, no obstructions to anyone other than the property owner who was fully aware of any risks.
I appreciate what you are saying, but I do have insurance to work up to 10m height (although I have "forgotten" to place H&S notices around the area). Seen one of my local competitors doing some shop frontage work on the high street the other day (established company of 20+ years), just a platform, 2 blokes, and 2 traffic cones. No signs or anything.
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Phil, I didn’t doubt for one minute that you have insurance as I am sure a lot of other company’s I see out and about do. Its just that I sometimes wonder if they give any thought to what might happen when they are out fitting in a public place. I have to admit to being a bit paranoid and always imagining the worst so perhaps thats why I always do it.
As for the local company with a platform and two cones well that’s actually very good compared with some of the so called fitters I have seen around here.
I quite often see company’s who have just one guy out on a job, up on a ladder with a 3 mtr board trying to hold it in place, fix it to the wall and hang on to the ladder !!! At the bottom of the ladder will be anything else he has brought with him, just lying about for people to trip over, no cones, no warning signs etc…. etc….. -
ha ha that sounds like me the other day!!! 😛
Still waiting for council to get back to me. No point in me quoting the job just in case I have to pay for a permit to work. Bloody government! 🙄
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Sorry Guys, a late reply, but you will enjoy this!!
Here (in Namibia) we also have public liability insurance. It is not required by law (or any other insurance, come to think of it!), but it is so cheap, you kick yourself by not insuring. Going rate at this stage is about $60 per month in premiums for every $ 1 million insured. No matter your industry, safety record, qualifications, nothing. Just call your short term insurance bloke, and sign the prepared document! I think it is so cheap, because NOBODY sues anybody in this country! If you are working, and a hammer drops on a blokes head, an apology will sort things out 9 out of 10 times. (If the poor sod died, paying for the funeral and an after "party", and a few grand in compensation to the family, will normally be enough!! American lawyers will die of starvation over here!
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just do it,
but quote the going rate, don’t bother with the regulations, if you get caught, you will only get slapped on the wrist, and very rarely stopped from completing the job. Ignore all h and s rules, because they cost money. Its how most "big companies" do it, its cheaper to ignore the rules, and pay an odd fine now and again, than comply.controversial, yes but from experience…… replies welcome
Peter
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haha
you must be joking!
one site wont be a problem, but the other one will require me to completely block off the pavement in a busy town centre. What are the odds of me getting busted?? Quite high I would expect! -
No, not Joking.
The risks off being caught are quite low. and the risk of any deterrent fine/penalty even less, the cowboys in all trades get away with it, so why not do the same, OK I am being cynical, but facts are, unless the rules are enforced, the laws and regs don’t mean a fig…
so legit firms and people who want do do it right, loose out
Peter
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I agree with Peter.
Just do the job. Don’t worry too much about the council. 🙄
With the help of another experienced sign fitter, I put up 10 large shop signs in 6 days the week before Christmas.
We got on the road at 6am covered hundreds of miles and worked like mad.
Start early and avoid the shoppers. If you can use trestle’s….fine !
If not….use a ladder !!!!Don’t miss out on a job……Just my opinion 😀
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I’m going to sit on the fence with this one 😀
if you’ve done a site survey, go with your instincts.
Technically ( you’d have to check with you’re insurance policy on this ) If you need permission from the council but don’t obtain it and something does go wrong, you might not be insured regardless of how good your H&S is !
Saying that, in the real world I agree with Peter and Cheryl it is not feasible to obtain permission for every sign put up, so unfortunately many of us find ourselves working at first light on Sunday morning !
So it goes without saying, whatever you decide work safely and consider the possible danger to others.
Lastly charge accordingly !
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