Abstract: At approximately 12:30 p.m. on April 17, 1996, Employee #1, of Jim's Remodeling, had ascended a carpenter's bracket scaffold to begin roofing work on a 2-story wood frame building. The scaffold, which had been erected by the owner of the company, was at the 16 1/2 foot level on the outer wall of the western side of building #15. It had been secured by a screw bolt that had been put through the wall and then through a piece of 2 in. by 4 in. wood placed horizontally across the inner wall studs. The bottom brace of the bracket scaffold was resting on the bare outer wall surface. When Employee #1 placed his full weight on the scaffold, the bottom bracket on the scaffold punched through the outer wall, causing the scaffold to collapse into the building. Employee #1 fell 16 1/2 feet to the ground and was hospitalized. There were no guardrails on the scaffold. Investigation revealed that the wood that wood on which the bottom bracket of the scaffold was resting had been weakened by dry rot.