Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be made out of other materials.

The basic materials are tubes, couplers and boards. Tubes are either steel or aluminium, although composite scaffolding uses filament wound tubes of glass fibre in a nylon or polyester matrix. If steel they are either 'black' or galvanised. The tubes come in a variety of lengths and a standard diameter of 48.3 mm. (1.5 NPS pipe). The chief difference between the two types of tubes is the lower weight of aluminium tubes (1.7 kg/m as opposed to 4.4 kg/m) and also a greater flexibility and so less resistance to force. Tubes are generally bought in 6.3 m lengths and can then be cut down to certain typical sizes. Extensive scaffolding on a building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Boards provide a working surface for users of the scaffold. They are seasoned wood and come in three thicknesses (38 mm (usual), 50 mm and 63 mm) are a standard width (225 mm) and are a maximum of 3.9 m long. The board ends are protected by metal plates called hoop irons or sometimes nail plates. Timber Scaffold boards in the UK should comply with the requirements of BS 2482. As well as timber, steel or aluminium decking is used or laminate boards. As well as boards for the working platform there are sole boards which are placed beneath the scaffolding if the surface is soft or otherwise suspect, although ordinary boards can be used,another design called the scaffpad is another solution as it is made from a rubber base with a base plate moulded inside, these are great to put on uneven ground because they adapt to any ground where sole boards would split costing more money to replace. A short section of steel scaffold pole. Couplers are the fittings which hold the tubes together. The most common are called scaffold couplers, there are three basic types: right-angle couplers, putlog couplers and swivel couplers. To join tubes end-to-end joint pins (also called spigots) or sleeve couplers are used, or both together. Only right angle couplers and swivel couplers can be used to fix tube in a 'load-bearing connection'. Single couplers are not load-bearing couplers and have no design capacity. Other common materials lnclude base plates, ladders, ropes, anchor ties, reveal ties, gin wheels, sheeting, etc. Despite the metric measurements given many scaffolders measure tubes and boards in imperial units. With tubes from 21 feet down and boards from 13 ft down. Bamboo scaffolding is widely used in Hong Kong, with nylon straps tied into knots as couplers.[4]