About JJ Cornwall Scaffolding, Penzance
Four scaffolders, two gangs and a yard in Penzance, run by a man who spent ten years on rail, mining and heritage structures before he put his own name above the door.
Meet JJ Cornwall Scaffolding Scaffolding Built for Cornish Weather, by a Local Specialist
Jordan James has ten years in scaffolding. He learned it the way the trade is still learned, on site and on other people's jobs, working up from labouring to running a gang of his own.
Most of that decade was spent subcontracting to larger scaffolding companies on structures a long way from a domestic re-roof. Jordan's experience includes the reconstruction of the Dawlish main line after the 2014 storms tore out the sea wall, the South Crofty tin mine, the Hayle viaduct, and Lloyds Bank in Bristol. Rail, mining, heritage and commercial: four different sets of rules about how a scaffold has to be designed, tied, loaded and signed off, and four sets of clients who do not accept anything that is not right.
That is the standard he brought with him when he set up JJ Cornwall Scaffolding Ltd in January 2019, working out of a yard in Penzance.
Going out on his own was about owning the whole job rather than a piece of it: pricing it, working out how it needs to be built, putting a gang on it, and being the person you ring if anything needs sorting.
Jordan James, owner, JJ Cornwall Scaffolding
How We Work
The price is agreed before the work, in writing
You get a written quote with the scope set out on it before anything goes up. If the job changes once we are on site, you hear what that costs and agree to it first. Nothing lands on an invoice you have not already said yes to.
The standard does not scale with the job
A two-lift scaffold on a bungalow is designed and tied to TG20 and worked to SG4, the same as a commercial contract.
You deal with the person who priced it
The scaffolder who looks at your job and works out the lifts is the one who turns up to build it.
We take it away when you are finished
Ring us when the work is done and striking gets booked in. A scaffold left standing on your drive is not something you should have to chase.
The Gangs Behind JJ Cornwall Scaffolding
JJ Cornwall Scaffolding is deliberately small. There are four of us, working as two gangs, out of the yard in Penzance.
Jordan is the sole director and holds Advanced Supervisor, the qualification that covers designing and supervising more complex scaffolds rather than only erecting them. A second member of the team is Part 2 qualified.
Two gangs is the number that lets us cover West Cornwall properly without stretching so thin that the work suffers. It also means the person who prices your job is the person who builds it, which stops being true once a scaffolding firm gets bigger.
Scaffolding Standards, Qualifications and Insurance
The scaffold on your property is designed and supervised by someone qualified to do it.
TG20 is the industry guidance covering how a scaffold is designed for the loads it will carry and the building it ties into.
SG4 is the published industry guidance on preventing falls while scaffolds go up and come down. Falls from height are still the leading cause of work-related death in Britain, with 35 recorded by the HSE in 2024/25, so how the gang works matters as much as the structure.
Double the £5m most jobs ask for, and the level main contractors expect on site. Certificates on request.
What You Get from JJ Cornwall Scaffolding
A major-structure background on a domestic jobThe way a rail or mine scaffold has to be designed and tied shows up in how the lifts, ties and loadings get worked out on a cottage in Newlyn.
A firm date, not an open-ended waitTwo gangs work out of one yard, and you get a firm start date at quote stage. We are contactable 8am to 7pm, seven days.
Penzance is home, not a territoryWe sponsor local cricket, football and darts teams, and most of our work is for people who live within half an hour of the yard.
What a JJ Cornwall Scaffolding Quote Includes
Every job starts with a written quote that sets out the scope: what is being erected, on which elevations, how many lifts, what the hire period is, and what would change the price.
No extra work starts until its price is confirmed in writing and you have agreed to it. If something on site turns out to be different from what we quoted for, you hear the number first.
Quotes are free and there is no obligation. Every job is priced on its own.
Expert Scaffolding Services Across West Cornwall
Six service lines: domestic scaffolding, commercial scaffolding, temporary roof scaffolding, scaffold hire, chimney scaffolding, and heritage and listed building access as a specialist subcontractor.
We work out of Penzance across West Cornwall, and east to Truro, Falmouth, Newquay and St Austell.
01Domestic Scaffolding
Access for re-roofs, extensions, rendering, painting and chimney work on houses, cottages and bungalows. Base protection is agreed before we start, so the driveway and the planting come out of it the way they went in. Most houses go up in a day.
02Commercial Scaffolding
Shops, offices, managed premises and new build. Pedestrian gantries and protective fans where the public passes underneath, RAMS and TG20 compliance documentation for the site file, and erection outside trading hours where that keeps your doors open.
03Chimney Scaffolding
Independent or bracketed access to a stack, including on terraces and narrow streets where there is no room to build off the ground in the usual way.
04Temporary Roof Scaffolding
A fully covered working deck over the whole structure, so a re-roof or a restoration carries on through Cornish weather instead of stopping for it. On a winter job it usually saves more than it costs, and it keeps the building dry while it is open.
05Scaffold Hire
Scaffold supplied, erected, maintained and struck by us for an agreed hire period, with the terms in writing. We hire to homeowners, builders, roofers and main contractors across the county. There is no drop-off hire, because we do not hire out anything we have not built ourselves.
06Heritage Scaffolding
Specialist subcontract access for conservation builders and restoration contractors working on listed and historic structures, with ties chosen to protect original fabric.
Get Your Free Scaffolding Quote in West Cornwall
Tell us what you are working on and we will come and look at it, then send you a written price with the scope on it. No obligation, and nothing goes up until you have said yes to it.
Call Jordan on 07984 611533·Get a free quote online
Penzance, Cornwall
Phone: 07984 611533
Email: jjcornwallscaffolding@gmail.com
Hours: Open 8am to 7pm, seven days