GRP Grating & Flooring
GRP grating is a load-bearing open mesh or solid-top floor panel made from glass-reinforced plastic. At UIS, we supply, cut to fit and install GRP grating and flooring, with the support steelwork, across the UK.
A finished floor, not just the panels.
GRP grating is a load-bearing floor panel made from glass-reinforced plastic, either moulded as an open mesh or pultruded as load bars, with a gritted or concave anti-slip surface. It replaces steel flooring wherever corrosion, electrical risk or weight make steel the wrong choice: process areas, water and chemical plant, rooftop plant decks and coastal sites.
Holding a supply-only panel quote on one side and a separate steelwork price on the other? That split is where floors go wrong: the panels arrive a few millimetres out, the two firms point at each other, and nobody owns the floor.
-
Frame and floor together
We design and fabricate the support steelwork to your engineer's loadings, then supply and cut the GRP grating to fit it.
-
Installed by our own teams
Our own teams fix the floor, so the fit between panel and frame is one company's responsibility, not two.
-
Documented at handover
We hand over the slip and fire documentation as one package, from our Rotherham workshop to your site.
GRP grating specification at a glance.
Depth, construction, mesh, surface and resin are the choices that set a grating floor. Your engineer sets the load; the rest follows from it.
- Depth
- 25 mm for pedestrian routes; 38 mm for industrial floors, platforms and rooftop walkways; 50 mm for heavier loads and longer spans
- Decided by: The clear span between bearers and your engineer's load
- Construction
- Moulded open mesh, or pultruded load bars
- Decided by: Moulded for balanced strength, corrosive areas and many cut-outs; pultruded for longer spans and heavier point loads
- Mesh
- Standard square mesh, mini mesh, micro mesh or solid top
- Decided by: The ball-fall rule in BS 4592-0: no 35 mm sphere through the openings, or 20 mm where people work below; solid top where small items or liquids must not fall
- Surface
- Quartz-gritted, concave or smooth
- Decided by: A wet PTV of 36 or more to BS EN 16165 for low slip potential
- Resin
- Standard polyester, isophthalic, vinyl ester or phenolic
- Decided by: The chemicals present, and the fire class: phenolic where low smoke matters
- Fire
- A Euroclass to BS EN 13501-1 or a BS 476-7 class, certified for the grade supplied
- Decided by: The building's fire strategy
- Deflection
- Within span/200 or 10 mm, whichever is less, with no more than 4 mm difference in level from the next panel (BS 4592-0)
- Decided by: The manufacturer's load table for the depth and span, checked against BS 4592-0
- Fixings
- Clips to the bearers, with the end bearing the manufacturer specifies
- Decided by: The manufacturer's fixing details and centres
Grating is specified against BS 4592-0:2006+A1:2012, with BS 4592-4 covering GRP open bar gratings and BS 4592-6 covering GRP moulded open mesh gratings.
Replacing corroded steel grating
Much grating work is replacing steel flooring that has corroded. We survey the existing bearers, check whether the frame is sound or needs repair, and match the new panels to the bearer centres and the load, so the GRP drops onto the existing steelwork where it can.
GRP is cut with a diamond blade under dust extraction rather than burned, so the swap is largely cold work and can run in sections while the area stays in use. Where the frame itself has gone, we fabricate a new steel or GRP support frame in our Rotherham workshop.
Where it is used
- GRP for Water and WastewaterGRP walkways over tanks and channels, platforms at valves and penstocks, and ladders into chambers.
- GRP for Food and DrinkGRP step-overs across lines, platforms at tanks and stairs to plant, for daily wash-down.
- Replacing Corroded Steel with GRPRusted steel grating, handrails and stair treads replaced with GRP, often on the existing frame.
What decides the price
We do not publish a price list, because grating is priced on the job. The main drivers are:
- the area
- the depth and mesh
- the resin grade
- the cut-outs
- the support steelwork
- the site access
What we need to quote a grating floor
- a drawing or sketch showing the area and the bearer layout
- the load your engineer has set, or what the floor carries: people, trolleys or equipment
- the environment: chemicals, wash-down, outdoor or coastal exposure
- any fire class the building needs
- access, working hours, and whether the area stays live
Before you specify
- How long GRP grating lastsResin, UV, chemicals, cleaning and inspection
- GRP grating load tablesReading span, depth, load and deflection for a panel
- GRP grating installation guideSpans, cutting, sealing cut edges and fixings
- Moulded vs pultruded GRP gratingHow each is made, which spans further and which suits corrosive areas
- GRP grating costWhat drives the price, and why fitted differs from panel-only
From your drawings to a fitted floor.
We take the floor from your structural drawings through fabrication to installation by our own teams.
Send your drawings
You send the structural engineer's drawings or mark up the area, and we scope the grating type, the support steelwork and the site access. On a commercial package we return a measured, itemised quotation within 1-2 weeks, because a take-off against your general arrangements deserves more than a ballpark.
Design and detailing
We design and detail the steel support steelwork to your engineer's specified loadings and select the correct GRP profile, depth and fixings for the duty. On a retrofit we carry out a geometrical survey and 3D scan, then overlay the proposed steelwork in CAD, so the fabrication matches the building you have rather than the building the old drawings describe.
Off-site fabrication and cutting
We fabricate the steel support to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 2 and cut the GRP grating to fit in our Rotherham workshop before anything reaches your site. Cutting and fitting off-site keeps swarf, dust and improvised cuts off your floor and keeps hot work to a minimum on the day.
Installation by our own teams
Our own CSCS-carded team installs the grating on site, on live or occupied sites where production cannot stop, under full method statements and with our in-house Appointed Person planning any lifting. Where the programme demands it, we work night shifts or planned shutdown windows so your operation keeps running.
Handover with the O&M pack
At practical completion we hand over the operation and maintenance (O&M) pack, with the BS 4592 conformity, the BS EN 16165 pendulum slip values and the project fire classification inside it, so your compliance position is documented from day one. Your quotation already covered the materials, cutting, fixings and installation, so there is no separate merchant invoice arriving later.
Aftercare
We back the steelwork for 12 months with a defect liability period in line with standard JCT terms (unless your contract sets different terms). If anything is not right in that first year we come back and put it right, and the same team that installed the floor picks up the phone.
Where a GRP floor beats steel.
GRP earns its place where steel corrodes or where weight and access constrain the work: chemical plants, rooftop plant decks and coastal exposure, where corrosion drives the lifetime cost of a steel floor. It is also non-conductive and light enough to handle and fix by hand, which suits live electrical environments and replacement work where a heavy steel deck is impractical. Outside those conditions, steel is usually the better floor.
Request a quoteGrating panels and finishes.
← Drag / swipe to browse · click to expand →
What owning the whole floor gives you.
No supply-versus-install gap: we design the floor, fabricate it, and fit it on your site.
About UIS-
01
We own the whole floor in-house, so there is nothing for you to coordinate
Because we keep design, fabrication, supply, cutting and installation in-house, you brief one team and hold one point of contact for the frame, the grating, the fixings and the paperwork. Our single team leaves you no merchant to chase for panels and no separate steelwork sub to coordinate, and no grey area when the grating meets the frame, because the same company drew both. We keep the compliance pack in hand, so when building control or your client's health and safety lead asks for it, you are not chasing a supplier who has already invoiced you.
-
02
Our own carded teams install on live sites, so production does not stop for a welder
Our own team works on your site, not subcontractors: CSCS-carded operatives, an SSSTS-qualified supervisor on every project, PASMA and IPAF certified, working to full method statements and risk assessments. Off-site, we prefabricate the steel support and cut the grating to fit before delivery, so installation is bolt-together with minimal hot work on your floor. At Oban, we installed flooring, handrails and stairs on night shifts inside a live supermarket, with our own Appointed Person planning the lifts, so an occupied or process site is a sequencing question rather than a reason to walk away.
-
03
We document every floor so the compliance is auditable on day one
Every GRP floor we build meets BS 4592-0:2006+A1:2012, the British Standard for industrial flooring and stair treads. Our O&M pack carries the BS EN 16165 pendulum slip values and the project fire classification, issued at handover, so the specification is on file the first time an auditor or insurer asks for it. The fire classification is issued per project rather than as a blanket rating, because the rating depends on the GRP grade specified for the job.
-
04
Your engineer owns the loadings; we design and fabricate the steelwork to them
Load capacity comes from your structural engineer, not from a generic chart. Our drawing office designs and fabricates the steel support steelwork to whatever loadings they have specified, from light pedestrian access up to heavy industrial duty, and we specify the correct grating profile, depth and fixings to suit. Our team fabricates mixed steel-and-GRP floors, where a steel frame carries the GRP panels, to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 2, because structural steel is our core trade and the same work we do every week.
"I've worked with UIS for several years on some high profile and very complex projects. Their attitude and work ethic are second to none - providing high quality services and products which are delivered safely and on time every time. Overall they are a pleasure to do business with and wouldn't hesitate recommending UIS for any steelwork or metalwork packages."
Grating questions.
We design, supply, cut to fit and install GRP grating and flooring with our own teams, as one package with a single point of contact and no subcontractors. We specify the correct profiles and fixings and cut the grating to suit your site; we do not mould the grating ourselves, we fabricate and install the steel support and system around it.
Every floor meets BS 4592-0:2006+A1:2012 for industrial flooring and stair treads. The BS EN 16165 pendulum slip-resistance values and the project fire classification are issued inside your O&M pack at handover, so the specification is auditable from day one. The fire classification is issued per project, because the rating depends on the GRP grade specified for the job.
GRP grating comes in moulded and pultruded types and in a range of panel depths to suit pedestrian through to heavy industrial duty. Load capacity is specified by your structural engineer, and we design and fabricate the support steelwork to those loadings and select the matching profile and fixings, rather than publishing a generic capacity chart.
Yes. We prefabricate the support and cut the grating to fit off-site, so installation is bolt-together with minimal hot work, and our CSCS, SSSTS and PASMA carded teams work to full method statements and risk assessments. Where production cannot stop, we install on night shifts or within planned shutdown windows, as we did installing flooring, handrails and stairs inside a live supermarket at Oban.
GRP resists corrosion and chemicals, is non-conductive, light to handle and low maintenance, which makes it the better floor in chemical plants, on rooftop plant decks and in coastal exposure, where a steel grating would rust and need replacing. Outside those conditions, steel is usually the better answer, and we will tell you which suits your project.
There is no single best depth; it follows from the span and the load. 25 mm suits pedestrian routes on close bearers, 38 mm is the common choice for industrial floors, platforms and rooftop walkways, and 50 mm carries heavier loads or longer spans. Check the panel against the manufacturer's load table at your real clear span, within the deflection limit.
Usually, if the bearers are sound. We survey the frame, check the bearer centres against the panel's span, allow the end bearing the manufacturer specifies, and clip the new panels down. Where the bearers have corroded, we repair or replace them first.
Yes. Our own teams install GRP grating floors, platforms and walkways for commercial and industrial sites across the UK from our Rotherham workshop, with the cutting done off site wherever we can so the time on site is short.