Buying Guides · 2025-10-28
FRP Grating Panel Sizes: Stock Sheets, Cutting and How Not to Pay for Waste
Understanding stock formats turns panel planning from guesswork into arithmetic.
Standard stock sizes
| Format | Common availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 000 × 3 000 mm | Full range, all depths | Most efficient for container shipping |
| 1 000 × 4 000 mm | Molded 25–50 mm | Long spans, fewer edge clips |
| 1 220 × 3 660 mm (4×12 ft) | Molded, most depths | Imperial-friendly; common for US projects |
Lengths beyond stock (to 6 m) are available on molded panels by special tooling and on pultruded systems naturally — pultruded bars pull to length.
The waste arithmetic
A deck of odd panel sizes cut from stock sheets generates 10–20 % offcut waste — material you pay for, ship, and discard. The fixes, in order of effectiveness:
- Design to stock widths: set walkway widths at 950/1 000 mm so a full sheet width lands without a rip cut
- Factory cut-to-schedule: offcuts stay at the factory where they become next week's stock panels for other customers
- Number every panel on the layout drawing: shipping a numbered kit removes both site measuring and the wrong-cut risk
- Consolidate cut-outs: pipes and columns that share a panel line cost one fabrication pass, not three
Why site cutting loses
Site cutting molded panels is easy (that's a genuine FRP advantage) but on volume it costs dust management, blade wear, edge chipping on gritted faces, disposal of offcuts inside a plant, and usually a hot-work-free but still-permitted cutting zone. Factory fabrication costs a fraction of that bundle and ships the waste problem nowhere near your site.