GRP Walkways
Universal Industrial Services designs, fabricates and installs GRP walkways and access decks for industrial, commercial and rooftop sites across the UK from its Rotherham base.
What we deliver.
If you are specifying a GRP walkway, the route matters more than the panel. You are buying a safe way across a roof, a process deck or a run of plant, not a stack of grating left in your yard for someone else to fit. We design the route, cut and prefabricate it in our Rotherham workshop, and install it with our own teams, so the grating deck, the handrail and the toe-board arrive as one access system with one company answerable for all of it. We started in 1994 as steel installers, and that heritage is why we treat a walkway as something to be erected safely on a live site, not packed into a box.
We specify the grating, cut it to fit and install the whole walkway route with our own certified teams, where supply-only GRP merchants only sell the panels.
From survey to installed walkway.
One team owns the whole route, from the site survey to the handover pack.
Consultation and site survey
We walk the run with you, record the access and edge-protection constraints, and on retrofit work we 3D-scan the existing structure and overlay the proposed walkway in CAD, so the route matches the building you actually have. On a major commercial package, a proper take-off against your drawings means the quotation follows within 2 weeks, and what we quote is what you pay, with any extra work stopped and approved before we proceed.
Design and detailing to your loadings
We detail the route, grating, handrail and fixings in CAD to the loadings your structural engineer has specified. The engineer owns the load; we design and fabricate the steelwork and GRP to meet it, and we issue the drawings for your sign-off before anything is cut.
GRP and profile selection
We specify the correct GRP grating profile, mesh pitch and fixings for your environment and slip requirement, and confirm the slip and fire data that will arrive with your O and M pack. Getting the profile and fixings right at this stage is what keeps the route compliant and the panels fitting the frame first time.
Off-site fabrication, cut to fit
We prefabricate and cut the walkway to fit in our Rotherham workshop, off the M18 in Hellaby, so what arrives on your site bolts together with fewer hot-works permits and less time at height. We agree the programme up front and deliver to a just-in-time schedule to keep storage off a busy site.
Installation by our certified teams
Our own CSCS, SSSTS, PASMA and IPAF certified team installs the route, working to full method statements and lift plans written by our in-house Appointed Person. Where your operation cannot stop, we work around it: at Oban we installed inside a live supermarket on night shifts and completed the flooring, handrails and stairs on schedule, and we sequence larger lifts in phases, as on the 40-tonne Leeds walkway we lifted into place across 3 days.
Handover and aftercare
At practical completion you receive the O and M pack that closes your audit: the BS EN 16165 pendulum slip values, the fire classification for the grade specified, and the as-built information your file needs. A defect liability period of 12 months runs on the steelwork, in line with standard JCT terms, and if something is not right in the first year we come back and sort it, with aftercare support continuing beyond that as a standard part of our process rather than an extra.
When a GRP route beats a steel one.
Where corrosion, weight or electrical safety drive the decision, we choose GRP: it resists corrosion in chemical plant and coastal air, stays non-conductive near electrical risk, and is lighter to handle and fix on a roof. As a steel fabricator, we will tell you plainly when steel is the better answer instead.
Tour our workshop
Project & sample images.
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GRP walkway installation by one accountable team.
We fabricate the route off site and install it with our own crews, so there is no panel-supplier-versus-fitter gap.
About UIS-
01
One firm owns the whole route, not just the panels
We survey the site, design and detail the route, fabricate it and install it under one point of responsibility, so you are not coordinating a grating supplier against a separate labour gang and owning the gap when a panel does not match the engineer's frame. One team carries the walkway from your drawing to a signed handover, which removes the coordination and programme risk that makes split steel and access packages fall over.
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02
Prefabricated off site, so there are fewer hot works on your live plant
Our workshop prefabricates and cuts the route to fit before it reaches you, and because GRP bolts together rather than needing welding, the work on your site is largely assembly rather than hot works. That means fewer hot-works permits, less fume and fire risk near live electrical or process areas, and less time spent at height, which is exactly what a plant that cannot stop running needs.
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03
The team on your site is ours, carded and accountable
We employ our installation teams directly, not subcontracted. Every operative carries a CSCS card, every project is led by an SSSTS supervisor, and the site team is PASMA and IPAF certified, so a principal contractor can onboard them without surprises. Lifts are planned by our in-house Appointed Person rather than handed to the crane-hire contact, which means the person signing off the lift already knows the fabrication, the detailing and the site.
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04
GRP where it earns its place, and steel where it does not
Where corrosion drives the whole-life cost, we choose GRP: water-treatment and chemical plant, coastal exposure, and rooftop decks where a lighter, non-conductive, low-maintenance route beats steel. As a steel fabricator we will tell you plainly when steel is the better choice instead, because getting the material right matters more to us than selling more of one of them. It is the judgement you want from the firm that will build your access route, not a merchant filling a panel order.
"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."
Questions clients ask us.
We install. We design, specify, cut to fit and install the whole walkway route with one team and one point of contact, with no subcontractors on the site work. That is the difference between us and a supply-only merchant who delivers panels and leaves the fit to you.
Yes. We work regularly on live sites including supermarkets, offices and industrial facilities, and because GRP bolts together and we prefabricate off site, there are fewer hot works to manage near live areas. At Oban we installed inside a working supermarket on night shifts and completed on schedule.
We choose GRP when corrosion, weight or electrical safety drive the decision: it resists corrosion in chemical plant and coastal air, stays non-conductive near electrical risk, and is lighter to handle and fix on a roof. As a steel fabricator, we will tell you when steel is the better answer instead, because the right material matters more than selling more of one of them.
We supply GRP grating to BS 4592 for industrial flooring and walkways, and your project O and M pack carries the BS EN 16165 pendulum slip values and the fire classification for the grade specified. We design and fabricate the steelwork to the loadings your structural engineer specifies, and reference HSE guidance and the Work at Height Regulations 2005 for edge protection.
We fabricate to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 2 with UKCA marking, hold ISO 9001, CHAS Elite, Alcumus SafeContractor and ConstructionLine Gold, and carry GBP 10m public liability and GBP 10m employers' liability. Send us your pre-qualification requirements and we will return the documentation pack with your submission.
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