Scaffolding also requires certain licenses and insurance that are expensive to get in the UK, not worth it unless you are doing it full time. It is also an extr

Scaffolding also requires certain licenses and insurance that are expensive to get in the UK, not worth it unless you are doing it full time. It is also an extraordinarily physically demanding job, which is not easy to do for someone who does not do it full time. If you look past the tatoos you will see scafolders often posess a very athletic physique, even sporting the neck and shoulder muscles that you normally only see on bodybuilders. Most general builders are happy to outsource such demanding work. It attracts a certain subset of the population, it is not particularly well paid, requires a qualification, is physically hard as stated, all weather. Therefore they don't descriminate against things that are taboo in many jobs, poor English, anger issues, heavy drinking, prison tattoos on hands and face, dyslexia, low IQ, missing employment history etc. You don't have to do a whiteboard interview, but you do have to be able to lift extraordinary weights. A standard scaffold pole is a 21ft long, heavy walled steel tube weighing around 30kg. Just you try and pick that up from one end like they do! You might manage to carry a 13ft (18kg) scaffold plank on your shoulder, but they carry them 5 or more at a time, and then lean them up against the scaffold! To be clear, Im not saying all scaffolders are dim ex cons. They are all extremely tough though... Btw Fred Dibnah of the video was in a very different industry of steeplejacking. This required brains and was rather better paid.