Installing advertising banners on scaffolding at construction sites is very common. We are all familiar with seeing them in major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. These large-scale banners remain in view of the public for a long time and end up becoming part of the urban landscape. One of the most recognizable examples is the Animal Equality campaign, “They’re messing with our eggs”. For that campaign, in 2020 an advertising banner was installed on a building on Madrid’s Gran Vía; safety and health coordination was carried out by the GespreObra team.
That is why, in this article, we will discuss the specific characteristics of this type of work and how they affect safety and health management. There are various issues to consider depending on the municipality where the installation is carried out, as it is affected by local regulations. We will focus on the installation of advertising banners on scaffolding in the municipality of Madrid.
Who is who in works involving the installation of advertising banners on scaffolding.
As with any construction project, proper safety and health management and coordination require identifying the parties involved. As you already know, these are defined in Royal Decree 1627/97 on safety and health in construction works. Among them, we will highlight the developer (client) and the contractors.
There is some confusion on this point, which leads many professionals to think that installing advertising banners on scaffolding is just another task within the project to which the scaffolding belongs. This is not the case; it is a separate project from the scaffolding installation itself.
Advertising banners on scaffolding are a separate project
It is important to define the installation of an advertising banner as construction work, since it is an installation that requires resources and means specific to the activity in order to carry out the work.
There is one main issue to consider when installing advertising banners on scaffolding: it is a separate project from the one for which the scaffolding was installed.
In the example of the banner mentioned above, since it is a project in the municipality of Madrid, it must be validated by the City Council. In other municipalities it may be different, as these works are affected by various local regulations. Therefore, compliance is required with the Madrid City Council’s Urban Landscape Protection By-law, the By-law Regulating Outdoor Advertising, and other current regulations issued by the Presidency of the Government and the Ministry of Development. Also applicable are the Special By-law on the Processing of Licences and Urban Planning Control, the General Building Regime, the CTE-DB-AE standard on actions on buildings, and the By-law regulating outdoor advertising.
In any case, the scaffolding is work equipment and the façade surface used by a contractor or subcontractor carrying out work for a project—one with its corresponding site management, developer (client) and health and safety coordinator appointed by the client.
Developer
That scaffolding’s external surface is then rented out during the execution of the works to place advertising. The developer (client) of the project to which the scaffolding belongs rents out the external surface of the scaffolding in order to place an advertising banner.
The party renting that space from the developer (client) is an advertising media company, an advertising agency or an audiovisual company, which will use it to install the advertising banner. The advertising agency becomes the developer (client) of a project to install an advertising banner on the scaffolding, for which it will hire a company specialized in this type of assembly (contractor).
Therefore, this advertising company or agency must comply with the obligations that Royal Decree 1627/97 establishes for the developer (client). These obligations include commissioning the design for the advertising banner installation and the corresponding safety and health study, as well as appointing the safety and health coordinator for that project.
Contractor
The contractor, in turn, must carry out the work in compliance with the obligations set out in Article 11 of Royal Decree 1627/1997 on minimum health and safety requirements. These include preparing the safety and health plan based on the safety and health study, which must be approved by the safety and health coordinator for the advertising banner installation project on the scaffolding.
Key challenges in safety and health coordination
As a result of installing the banner on the scaffolding façade of the project, the following situation arises:
- Two developers (clients): the project developer (client) and the advertising banner developer (client).
- Two different designs: the project execution design and the design for installing the advertising banner on scaffolding.
In this situation, it must be borne in mind that the safety and health coordinator for the project during the execution phase is appointed for a specific design and NOT for the advertising banner installation design. Therefore, the developer (client) of the advertising banner has the obligation to appoint a safety and health coordinator for its installation. This is why coordination of business activities is extremely important in this case and, of course, providing proper advice to the clients to generate the correct documentation for both projects.
This will affect both the execution of the work itself and the documentation generated. By way of example, the scaffolding assembly, use and dismantling plan for the main project must anticipate in its calculations that an advertising banner will be installed and therefore include the necessary anchors to correctly support the advertising banner.
Likewise, the safety and health study and plan for the banner installation project must take into account the characteristics and other requirements set out in the scaffolding assembly, use and dismantling plan.
In addition to all of the above, there are other elements specific to the banner installation project that affect its safety. Aspects such as lighting, the electricity required, or the properties of the banner materials (permeability, fire performance, etc.) must be considered to ensure the advertising support is safe. Of course, the banner’s location must not impair the visibility and safety of road traffic or pedestrians.
Conclusions
As we have seen, in projects involving the installation of advertising banners on scaffolding, a simple exchange of documentation for the coordination of business activities is not enough. It is far more complex and, as we have noted, requires absolute coordination between the safety and health coordinators of both projects.
That is why, for this type of work, it is advisable to rely on a qualified, expert safety and health coordination team. GespreObra has extensive experience in safety and health coordination and safety and health consulting for advertising projects in a wide range of fields. You can contact us for advice and safety and health coordination in the installation of advertising supports and audiovisual projects.
