Scaffold · Échafaud

Scaffold · Échafaud produces 3D scaffold plans and shop drawings from the dimensions of the structure. You describe the site to your assistant, which prepares the plan with Scaffold.

The requests on this page are examples. Say them in your own words. For a complete example, read the tutorial How to create an accurate 3D scaffold plan.

What you receive

For each plan, you receive:

• the dimensioned PDF plan, A3 size, on one or more sheets. It contains the title block, the bill of materials and the load takedown;
• the CAD plan (DXF), to scale, with one layer per view and the legend on a separate layer;
• the 3D model (STEP);
• the bill of materials in Excel and CSV;
• the indicative calculation note in PDF (Letter size), for the engineer who checks the plan;
• the plan data in JSON, for your own tools;
• a preview of the first sheet, shown in the conversation.

The “Terms and legend” sheet

The last sheet of the PDF plan is titled “Terms and legend”. It gives:

• the meaning of each term used on the plan (up to 55 terms);
• the legend of the symbols drawn: part categories, hatched existing structures, ground, dimensions, levels, item bubbles, zones, projection and QR code.

Only the terms and symbols present on the plan appear on it.

The calculation note

The calculation note contains:

• the assumptions;
• the loads per the duty class;
• the local wind, calculated with the NBC 2020 method, with the source of each coefficient;
• the load takedown per standard, with the bearing pressure;
• the force in each tie;
• the checks;
• the calculations the note cannot make because data is missing;
• a signature block.

Document language

The plan, the CAD plan layers, the bill of materials, the calculation note and the parts catalogue come in English or French.

• To get them in English, ask in the conversation or set your profile language to English.
• Otherwise, they are in French.
• Your parts keep their name, unless an English name is recorded for them.
• A revision description you wrote stays as you wrote it.

File origin and retention

Each file carries a TektonAI reference that proves where it comes from. See Check that a document comes from TektonAI.

Download links stay valid for 30 days. After that, the files are archived.

What you can ask

You ask	What Scaffold does
“Prepare the scaffold plan for this façade.”	Produces the plan and all its files, for a single element or a complete site of up to 12 elements. The plan for a site contains an overall view, one sheet per element and one bill of materials covering every element.
“Without producing a plan, compare a frame scaffold and a system scaffold.”	Works out the configuration and the bill of materials, without producing files. This lets you compare options before producing the plan.
“Show the history of plan ECH-261017-46CA.”	Shows the plan’s revisions: who made each revision, and when. Also gives the data of the latest revision and the links to its files, if they are still online.
“Revise plan ECH-261017-46CA: the façade becomes 15 m.”	Produces the next revision of the plan. Takes all its data, applies only the requested changes and adds the revision to the title block.
“Which parts can you use for our plans?”	Lists the parts of a generic system, or your company’s parts, read from your inventory in Inventory · Remise.
“Produce our parts catalogue.”	Produces your company’s parts catalogue: an A3 PDF with a view of each part, a 3D model (STEP) and an Excel file.
“Show our parts in a table.”	Gives the list of your company’s parts as data, to show them in a page or a table.
“Which account am I signed in to?”	Gives the ID of the connected account and reminds you where your company’s parts come from.
“Take our logo from our website.”	Saves your company’s logo from a web address (https). The logo is then printed in the title block of your plans.
“I want to give you our logo.”	Creates an upload page, valid for one hour, for the logo file: PNG, JPEG, WEBP or GIF, 3 MB max.
“I want to give you the architect’s plans.”	Creates an upload page, valid for one hour, for an architect’s plan: IFC model (IFC2x3 or IFC4, also zipped) or PDF, 100 MB max.
“Read the model and propose the façades to scaffold.”	Reads the uploaded plan. With an IFC model, proposes the façades to scaffold. The details are in the next section.
“Delete the plan I gave you.”	Deletes the uploaded plan right away.

Start from an architect’s plan

Upload the IFC model or the PDF drawings on the upload page your assistant gives you.

Scaffold checks the file type from its content, not from its name. A DWG file, or a STEP file of a mechanical part, is refused. You are given the reason.

IFC model

Scaffold reads:

• the storeys and their levels;
• the walls;
• the doors and windows.

It groups aligned walls into façades. It then proposes the façades to scaffold, if the model shows which walls are exterior. Otherwise, you get the list of walls and point out the exterior ones yourself.

PDF plan

Scaffold extracts:

• the page sizes;
• the written scales;
• the written dimensions;
• the text and its position on the sheet.

It does not read the lines of the drawing: your assistant interprets the views with you. A scanned PDF, with no text, is flagged.

Before the plan is produced

You confirm the façades before the plan is produced.

An uploaded plan belongs to your company. It is deleted after 7 days, or right away if you ask.

What the plans cover

• Structures: facade, bridge pier, tank, suspended platform, stair tower, roof edge guardrail and rolling tower.
• Systems: 5 ft frame scaffold or multidirectional scaffold.
• Units: mm, cm, m, feet and inches, including the notation 15'-6 1/2". Dimensions on the plan show in mm, in feet-inches or both.
• Sectors: building, infrastructure, marine, mining and industrial.
• Provinces: all 13 provinces and territories, and federally regulated companies. Each plan cites the rules of the province where the site is.
• Load classes: light, 1.2 kPa (25 lb/ft²); intermediate, 2.4 kPa (50 lb/ft²); heavy, 3.6 kPa (75 lb/ft²), per CSA S269.2-16 (clause 6.2.3). When the province’s regulation defines its own classes, those apply. Scaffold never chooses the class for you.
• Plan status: PRÉLIMINAIRE (preliminary), POUR APPROBATION (for approval) or APPROUVÉ POUR MONTAGE (approved for erection). The last status requires the name of the person who checked the plan and the name of the person who approved it.

Your parts in the plans

If your inventory is kept in Inventory · Remise, the plans use your parts:

• the bay follows your fleet (for example 7 ft);
• each part of the plan is linked to one of yours, of the same family and with the same dimensions;
• a part your fleet lacks stays generic. The bill of materials marks it “Not in catalogue”.

When Scaffold asks you questions

• Scaffold asks its questions in a form.
• It waits for your answer before producing the plan only when a missing value would make the plan wrong or dangerous.
• An ordinary plan needs 1 to 3 questions.
• In other cases, the plan is produced right away. It carries one line per missing check, for example the capacity of the standards when the manufacturer’s data sheet is not provided.
• If you answer the form later, Scaffold produces the next revision. It adds the check and removes the line.

Revisions

• Only the company that produced a plan can revise it.
• The name of the employee who made each revision is printed in the plan’s revision table.

Good to know

The plans are preliminary. A competent person must check them before erection.

An engineer must sign them when the province’s regulation requires it, for example at 18 m (59 ft) and higher in Québec. The plan flags it.