Roof edge protection
Our engineered guardrail system offers a compliant edge protection solution that is quick to install, remove and un-intrusive on site. Our team are well versed in edge protection, so if you're not sure what you need and where to maintain compliance on site, get in touch today.
Some of the applications we can provide:
- First floor edge protection
- Roof rail
- Void edge protection
- Bolt down handrails
Get in touch today for us to take the headache out of your project!
Fully licensed & insured
QBCC classes and cover on request
Ticketed scaffolders
Basic to advanced tickets on every crew
Handover documentation
Certification, tags, registers & training
Free, no-obligation quote
Back to you within as little as 24 hours
A guardrail around the roof perimeter, up in a day, and your crew can get on with it. On most single and two-storey roofs that's the whole job.
The reason it gets quoted badly is that most scaffolders treat it as an afterthought to a scaffold. It isn't. It's a different job, for a different trade, on a different timeline. A roofer's on site for four days. A scaffold priced and programmed like a twelve week job doesn't fit that, and paying for one is money straight out of the margin.
We do it as its own service. That means we ask the questions a roofer actually cares about. What are we fixing to. What's the pitch. Who's following you onto the roof. When does it come down. Get those right and the edge goes up once, works for everyone, and comes off when you're done.
Send us the roof plan and we'll price it. Talk to us before you commit to a number, not after.
Who this is for
Roofers and re-roof contractors
You're on and off a roof in days, not months. You want the edge up before the first sheet comes off, and gone when you are.
Solar installers
Panels, rails and inverters all sit close to the perimeter. We set the rail so your array layout still works, so nobody moves it twice.
Remedial and strata contractors
Occupied buildings, tight programs and a body corporate watching. We work around residents and keep the walkways open.
Painters and maintenance trades
In and out in two days, and the fall is the same either way. You get a compliant edge for that visit without paying for a two month scaffold.
Scope of works
- Roof edge guardrail to perimeters, gutters and parapets
- Perimeter protection for re-roofs, recladding and solar installs
- Static lines and anchor points where a rail won't fit
- Edge protection combined with access where trades need both
- Void, penetration and skylight protection
- Install, inspection, and removal booked to your program
Do you need edge protection, a scaffold, or both?
Short version. Work happening on top of the roof usually calls for edge protection, and that's the cheaper answer. Work happening to the walls, gutters or facade needs a scaffold, because your trades need somewhere to stand. Roofers first and painters after usually means both, and the order you install them in decides whether you pay once or twice.
That last one is where most quotes go wrong. We'd rather have that conversation before you commit to a price than after.
We've written the whole decision out, including the cases where the answer surprises people: edge protection vs scaffold.
What we scope that others miss
Losing your edge when the neighbour's wall gets taped off
It happens on almost every boundary job. Someone tapes off the neighbouring wall, your rail's now inside an exclusion zone, and the edge you paid for is useless. On previous jobs we've seen crews stood down for a day over it. We put an allowance in for it up front, priced as an option, so the call's yours and the number doesn't move.
Roof pitch and what you're actually fixing to
Pitch changes the system and the fixing method changes the price. Timber battens, steel purlins, concrete and old fibro all behave differently, and a roof that's been over-sheeted twice isn't the roof on the drawing. We get up there and look before we quote.
Brittle and fragile surfaces
Old fibro, polycarbonate sheeting, skylights and rusted decking won't hold a person. A perimeter rail does nothing about a fall through the middle. We scope the internal protection at the same time, because finding it on day one stops the job.
Solar arrays and services that clash with the rail
Rail lines, conduit runs and inverters sit exactly where a guardrail wants to go. We set the rail against your array layout, not the other way round, so nobody moves anything twice.
What happens to the rail when your trade finishes
The roofers finish, the painters start, and the edge protection either stays up and gets in the way, or comes down and leaves the next trade exposed. We ask who follows you before we price it, and we stage the handover around your program.
Compliance and handover
Two things the site manager actually worries about, answered straight.
Where we put up a scaffold, the duties in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s225 apply. Nobody uses it until the person with management or control gets written confirmation from a competent person that construction is finished, under s225(2). It gets inspected by a competent person before use, after any alteration or incident, and at least every 30 days, under s225(3). If an inspection turns up a risk, the repairs happen and it gets inspected again before anyone goes back on it, under s225(4). You get that paperwork from us without asking twice.
Where we install standalone roof guardrail, s225 isn't the section in play, because a guardrail is a fall-prevention control, not a scaffold. You still get the install documentation, the inspection record and a clear handover. We'd rather tell you which set of duties actually applies to your job than hand you a certificate for the wrong thing.
Full detail, with the regulation quoted: scaffold inspection and handover in Queensland.
Related services
Also worth a look
Remedial scaffolding
Occupied buildings have their own rules to contend with. Residents, pedestrians, containment and a program that has to keep moving whilst people are still living there.
Engineered & specialist access
Cantilevered off a balcony ten floors up? Hung off a structure with no ground under it? We have engineered solutions for every scenario.
What clients say
Ben and his team have been our go-to scaffolders for some time. Super easy to deal with, no fuss, no hands out. Just in and out.
Steve, SCR Roofing, Director We had Horizon come on board after having a nightmare with another scaffolding mob. Night and day difference in their whole approach. The scaffold is always immaculate, great comms, quick turnarounds. We won't use anyone else.
Gary, Aspect Building, Project Manager Great price and easy to deal with.
Steve, Mooloolaba Ben and the rest of the team installed the scaffolding to our house for our new windows and painting. Very professional and have recommended these guys to friends.
Susie Briggs, Mooloola Valley Horizon were recommended to us and I wish we'd used them sooner. Very competitive price with great service. Our go-to scaffolders now on the coast.
David, Coastal Builds Very happy with the job and will be using Horizon again. Thanks Benny.
Michael, CRS Thanks to Ben and the lads for helping us push our townhouse project over the line. We needed a few adjustments last minute and nothing was an issue.
Jamie, Buderim Horizon were super easy to deal with and very reasonably priced. We will definitely be using them again.
Holly, SmartRoof
Questions
Common questions
Is edge protection compliant on its own for a re-roof?
Usually yes, if the work stays on the roof and the perimeter is protected to the full extent of the work area. It stops being enough the moment a trade needs to work off the face of the building, or the roof itself won't take a person. We look at both before we quote, and we'll tell you if you need a scaffold instead.
How fast can you install it?
Most single-storey and two-storey roofs go up in a day. Larger commercial perimeters usually run two to three. The thing that moves the date is access for the truck, not the rail itself, so tell us early if the site is tight or the crane's booked.
Do you provide the handover certificate?
For a scaffold, yes. Written confirmation from a competent person before it's used, as required under WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s225(2), plus the 30-day inspection records. For standalone roof guardrail you get the install and inspection documentation, which is the correct paperwork for that control.
Can you work around an occupied building?
Yes, and most of our remedial work is exactly that. We stage the install so entries and walkways stay open, work in agreed hours where a body corporate needs it, and keep the public separated from the drop zone. Tell us the building's occupied at quote stage, because it changes the sequence and we'd rather price it than discover it.
How long can we keep it up for?
As long as the job needs. Hire runs weekly after the first four weeks, and inspections continue at least every 30 days while it's standing. If your program slips, tell us and we'll re-book the inspection rather than let it lapse.
Do you do the edge protection if someone else has the scaffold?
Yes. We're happy to install the edge where another contractor holds the scaffold, as long as we can inspect what we're tying into. What we won't do is sign off on somebody else's structure without looking at it.