Temporary partitions, screens and barriers are bought as a stopgap and then left in place for months. That mismatch between intended and actual life is where these installations fail, and most of the failures are about how the sheet is held rather than what it is made of.
What a temporary screen actually needs
- To stay upright. A large sheet has a lot of area and catches air. Freestanding panels fall over, and a falling panel is a safety issue rather than a maintenance one.
- To be stable at the joints. Where panels meet, they gap, and the gap is what people notice and what lets dust or view through.
- To survive being moved. “Temporary” usually means it gets taken down and rebuilt several times, and the fixing method has to tolerate that.
- To be cleanable if it is in a food, pharmaceutical or healthcare environment.
- To be safe. In many jurisdictions a barrier in a working area has fire performance requirements, and this is the one that catches people out.
Why PP sheet suits it
It is light, cheap, does not absorb water, wipes clean, and takes a printed safety message. For dust screens, segregation barriers and temporary segregation in warehouses and factories it is a good material. It is also easy to cut on site, which inevitably happens.
The fire question
Standard polypropylene burns. In a working environment, and particularly in any public or escape route, that is usually not acceptable, and a fire-retardant grade is likely to be required. This is a genuine limitation rather than a technicality, and it is worth establishing what your site rules require before ordering rather than discovering it at an inspection.
Where a fire-retardant grade is required, ask for the specific standard that has to be met. “Fire retardant” on its own is not a specification.
Making it stand up
This is where most installations fail. Practical approaches:
- A weighted or water-filled base rather than relying on the panel’s own weight
- Folding feet that give the panel a footprint
- Linking panels together so a run is stable even if one panel is not
- Tying back to a fixed structure where one is available
- A frame around the sheet, which also protects the edges
Joints and overlaps
Butt joints gap. Overlapping the panels, or using a purpose-made joining strip, closes the line and stiffens the run. Tape works for a short installation and leaves residue on a long one. Velcro or a clip system survives repeated assembly.
Cutting on site
It will happen. Cutting PP sheet with a knife is fine, but it leaves an open flute edge that collects dirt and is hard to clean. If the screen is in a hygienic environment, cut it off site with sealed edges, or seal the cut edge with tape at minimum.
How long is temporary
The word temporary does a lot of damage here. A screen bought for a two-week job gets moved to another and another, and within a year it is a permanent fixture that was never specified as one.
It is worth deciding at the outset whether the installation is genuinely short-term. If it is, buy the lightest thing that works and plan to dispose of it. If it is not, specify it properly – sealed edges, a proper frame, a fire-retardant grade if required – and accept the higher cost.
The expensive outcome is the middle path: a light screen used for a year, degrading the whole time, replaced twice. Most sites that have been through it prefer to decide up front.
What we supply
We supply corrugated PP sheet for screens and barriers, including fire-retardant grades where the site requires them. Tell us the environment, whether it is a hygienic area, and how it will be supported, and we will tell you what grade and thickness to use – and if your application has a fire requirement, we will need that in writing before we quote.