Ashwaubenon, WI Building Safety: Scaffold & Sidewalk Shed (2026)

Ashwaubenon Municipal Code Sec. 5-1-240 covers scaffold and fence protection during construction and demolition work in the Village. It applies whenever work occupies streets, alleys or private property: the contractor must erect "proper fences and scaffolds" to protect the public. Where a scaffold is built over a street or alley, it must carry a top cover of planks, guard rails or toe-boards specifically to stop debris from falling onto the sidewalk or street below, and the top of the scaffold has to sit at least eight feet above the sidewalk or alley grade so pedestrians and traffic can pass safely underneath.

The section sits in Article 1 of Chapter 5, Building Regulations, alongside the Village's razing and demolition rules; a razing permit under Sec. 5-1-239 must already be on file with the Inspection Department before this kind of work begins, and adjoining sections (5-1-241 through 5-1-247) add related demolition-safety duties: keeping unsupported walls from standing alone, taking down multi-story buildings floor by floor, lowering rather than dropping heavy materials, and calling the digger's hotline before any building is razed. Because the scaffold rule is embedded in the general building-regulations article rather than tied to a specific trade code, it applies to any contractor's scaffold erected in connection with construction, alteration, repair or demolition inside Village limits, not solely to demolition jobs.

The Building Inspection Department administers and enforces this section as part of its normal building-permit oversight, and a scaffold or protective fence found not to meet the eight-foot clearance or the required top cover can be ordered corrected before work continues.