Scaffolding High Risk Work Licences in Victoria: When Your Factory Needs One

Most Victorian manufacturers only need scaffolding for a handful of jobs a year: a roof repair, a shutdown that requires access to overhead conveyors, or a plant installation that needs a temporary platform around a new machine. That occasional use is exactly where scaffolding licensing gets misunderstood — plant managers either assume every scaffold needs a licensed scaffolder, or assume none of it does because "we're not a scaffolding company."

Neither assumption is safe. WorkSafe Victoria licenses scaffolding work under the same high risk work licence (HRWL) scheme that covers forklifts and cranes, and the trigger isn't who you are — it's the height the platform could drop someone or something from.

When scaffolding work actually needs a licence

Safe Work Australia's standard is direct: scaffolding work involving a platform with a fall of more than 4 metres requires a high risk work licence. Below that, a licence isn't mandated by the high risk work scheme. Above it, the person erecting, altering or dismantling the scaffold — not the person merely working on it — must hold the right class of licence.

That last distinction matters for a factory. Your maintenance techs, roofers or contractors can work from a scaffold platform without any scaffolding licence at all. The licence requirement only bites on the erection, alteration and dismantling of the structure itself.

The three licence classes, and what each one covers

Victoria uses the same national licence codes as every other state: SB (Basic), SI (Intermediate) and SA (Advanced). Each class is cumulative — an Advanced licence lets you do everything below it.

Class	Code	Covers
Basic Scaffolding	SB	Modular or prefabricated scaffolds, cantilevered materials hoists (max 500kg working load), ropes and gin wheels, safety nets and static lines, bracket scaffolds (tank and formwork)
Intermediate Scaffolding	SI	Everything in SB, plus cantilevered crane-loading platforms, cantilevered and spurred scaffolds, barrow ramps and sloping platforms, perimeter safety screens and shutters, mast climbers, tube-and-coupler scaffolds
Advanced Scaffolding	SA	Everything in SI, plus hung scaffolds (including those hanging from tubes, wire ropes or chains) and suspended scaffolds

For most manufacturing sites, SB or SI covers what you'll actually encounter: modular frame scaffolds around plant, tube-and-coupler rigs against a wall for roof access, or a materials hoist during a shutdown. SA-level work (suspended and hung scaffolds) is rare outside high-rise and heavy industrial contexts.

What doesn't need a licence

If the platform your scaffold creates can't drop a person or object more than 4 metres, the erector doesn't need an SB, SI or SA licence under the high risk work scheme. Low-level trestle setups, single-lift mobile scaffolds under that threshold, and similar low-rise work fall outside the licensing trigger.

That's not a green light to hand it to anyone, though. You still carry general duties under Victoria's OHS Act to provide and maintain a safe system of work. In practice that means whoever erects even a sub-4-metre scaffold should be trained and competent to do it — the absence of a licence requirement doesn't remove the need for the person to know what they're doing, particularly on modular systems where incorrect bracing or missing ties are a common cause of collapse.

How to get a scaffolding licence — or arrange for someone who has one

The pathway mirrors the general HRWL process WorkSafe Victoria runs for forklift and crane licences:

1. Train and assess with a registered training organisation (RTO) for the class you need (SB, SI or SA).
2. Apply within 60 calendar days of your assessment, using the Assessment Number it generates — after that window, you have to sit the assessment again at your own cost.
3. Lodge through myWorkSafe (the fastest route) with identity verification, or in person at Australia Post if you can't verify identity online.
4. Wait for processing — WorkSafe Victoria states applications can take up to 45 calendar days.
5. Receive your licence — digital access is available immediately on approval, with a physical card following in 20–25 business days.

As at the time of writing, WorkSafe Victoria lists the application fee at $77.70 per class, with a $58.70 renewal fee, and licences run for five years. Fees are reviewed periodically, so check the current figure on WorkSafe's site before you budget for it.

The practical call for a manufacturer, not a scaffolding contractor

If scaffolding is a once- or twice-a-year need tied to shutdowns or capital works, training your own staff to SB or SI level is rarely worth it. Five years of currency against one or two jobs a year is a lot of licence sitting idle, and scaffold erection is a genuine skill where infrequent practice is a real risk factor.

The more defensible position for most factories:

• Engage a licensed scaffolding contractor for any job where the platform could exceed the 4-metre threshold. Check their licence class matches the job — a contractor with only an SB licence can't legally erect a cantilevered or tube-and-coupler system that falls under SI.
• Verify the licence, don't just take their word for it. WorkSafe Victoria's licence check tools let you confirm a card is current before the contractor sets foot on site.
• Treat sub-4-metre scaffold work as still needing a competent person, even without a licence requirement — write it into your contractor induction and pre-start checks rather than assuming "no licence needed" means "no competency needed."
• Fold scaffold access into your existing working-at-heights controls. Scaffolding is one fall-control option among several — see our guide on working at heights on factory mezzanines, ladders and platforms for how it sits alongside guardrails and other fall prevention.

Scaffolding licensing is a narrow but genuinely enforceable requirement — get the class wrong on a shutdown job and you've got an unlicensed high risk work exposure on top of whatever else goes wrong on site.

FAQ

Does every scaffold on a factory site need a licensed scaffolder? No. Only scaffolding work — erecting, altering or dismantling — where the platform could drop a person or object more than 4 metres needs a licence. Working from an already-erected scaffold doesn't require any scaffolding licence.

What's the difference between SB, SI and SA scaffolding licences? SB (Basic) covers modular/prefabricated scaffolds, small materials hoists, ropes and gin wheels, safety nets and bracket scaffolds. SI (Intermediate) adds cantilevered platforms, spurred scaffolds, barrow ramps, screens and tube-and-coupler systems. SA (Advanced) adds hung and suspended scaffolds. Each class includes everything below it.

Can our own maintenance team erect scaffolding without a licence? Only if the platform can't fall more than 4 metres. Above that, whoever erects, alters or dismantles it needs the matching SB, SI or SA licence — training them or engaging a licensed contractor are the only compliant options.

How long does it take to get a scaffolding licence in Victoria? You need to complete RTO training and assessment, then apply within 60 calendar days. WorkSafe Victoria's stated processing time is up to 45 calendar days, with digital licence access on approval and a physical card in 20–25 business days after that.

Is it worth training our own staff if we only use scaffolding occasionally? Usually not. For one or two shutdown-related jobs a year, a licensed scaffolding contractor is generally more practical than maintaining in-house licences across a five-year cycle where the skill sees little regular use.

If you're not sure whether an upcoming shutdown or maintenance job crosses the licensing threshold, book a site assessment with Ardmor and we'll walk the job with you before it starts.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 20 September 2026.