Actavo is one of Ireland’s leading scaffolding providers, with decades of experience delivering access solutions for high-value, complex projects. Since its founding in 2010, the company has supported major pharmaceutical and industrial projects for Eli Lilly, Pfizer, MSD, and Intel. With thousands of scaffolds often erected across multiple sites, Actavo has built its reputation on safety, compliance, and transparency.
The Challenge
On billion-euro projects, scaffolding demands can reach staggering levels. On a project at one of Pfizer’s pharmaceutical plants, Actavo managed over 3,000 scaffolds with 650–700 standing at one point.
Each scaffold required weekly inspections and records. Over the course of the two-year job, this generated thousands of inspection reports – and thus thousands of pieces of paper.
The challenge wasn’t just the paperwork—it was the logistics of keeping track of hundreds of scaffolds across a massive job site. Inspectors had to remember where each scaffold was located, confirm that none were missed during inspections, and track which were in use, waiting for inspection, or ready to dismantle. With hundreds of scaffolds spread across multiple floors and zones, the risk of oversight was always present.
The Solution
To overcome these challenges, Actavo adopted Avontus ScaffoldIQ™, a digital scaffold management system that centralizes requests, scaffold status, inspections, safety documents, and handovers in one platform.
The rollout began on an Eli Lilly project nearly two years ago. Instead of filling out inspection forms by hand, scaffolders logged inspections in the field using tablets or mobile phones. Each scaffold had a digital profile, complete with photos and inspection history. Supervisors, clients, and regulators could then search and view records instantly.
It turned inspections from an admin job back into a scaffolder’s job. The speed of being able to track scaffolds individually has been hugely beneficial.
John Keightley, Operations Manager
From there, ScaffoldIQ was expanded to other large-scale projects. Actavo now uses the platform for:
Requests – Scaffold requests are logged digitally, capturing size, purpose, and duration. Supervisors can see outstanding requests and plan labor accordingly.
Safety Documents – Signed safety files are stored digitally, making them immediately accessible to clients and regulators.
Inspections – Records are managed digitally, ensuring accuracy and compliance with Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
Scaffold Status – The map-based view displays scaffolds that are standing, awaiting inspection, or ready for dismantle, helping teams manage equipment efficiently.
The Impact
The scale of improvement was clear from the start. Since Actavo started using ScaffoldIQ on the Eli Lilly project, they did not miss a single inspection.
Every scaffold was logged, photographed, and tracked, eliminating the risk of oversight.
Scaffold IQ ensures all scaffolds are captured and recorded for billing and inspections. The program removes the risks associated with relying on manual records.
John Keightley
At Pfizer, ScaffoldIQ enabled Actavo to manage those 3000 scaffolds with full visibility. Instead of relying on memory or walking the site to find scaffolds, inspectors could use the platform to see locations, statuses, and inspection histories instantly.
The benefits extended to regulators and clients. For the HSA, audits that once took hours reviewing stacks of paper could now be completed in minutes.
We can give HSA inspectors free view-only access to the information. What could take hours is now five minutes.
Colin Walsh, Managing Director
For clients, the addition of scaffold photos eliminated billing disputes that would have slowed down payment. At Eli Lilly, this transparency meant the final account closed with no delays.
There were no questions at the end. Everything was there for them to see week by week. The final account was open and shut.
John Keightley
Key Benefits Realized
Time savings at scale – Hours once lost to searching through thousands of pieces of paper are saved every week, freeing supervisors to focus on operations.
Zero missed inspections – On the Eli Lilly project, every scaffold was accounted for across the full duration of the job.
Client and regulator confidence – Real-time access reassures clients and reduces HSA audit times from hours to minutes.
Transparency in billing – Photos and records eliminate disputes and speed up payments.
Error prevention – Digital records remove the risk of costly mistakes, such as a missed scaffold that went unbilled with paper registers.
Final Thoughts
ScaffoldIQ has proven itself on some of Ireland’s largest and most complex projects. By digitizing inspections, requests, safety documents, handovers, and scaffold status, Actavo has eliminated paperwork burdens and safeguarded against errors that can cost time and money.
We’ve done three of the largest projects in Ireland—Intel, Eli Lilly, and Pfizer. With ScaffoldIQ, we didn’t have any issues in inspections or commercial agreements. It’s worked very well for us.
Colin Walsh
For Actavo, ScaffoldIQ has transformed scaffolding management from potential chaos into complete clarity—ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and trust on billion-euro projects.
