Most protection board is bought in stock sheet sizes and cut on site. Some is bought cut to order. Both are correct in different circumstances, and the deciding factor is usually how settled the layout is rather than how much the cutting costs.
What cut-to-order buys
No site cutting labour, no offcut waste, sealed edges on every panel, and a faster lay. On a job with many columns, reveals and awkward shapes, site cutting is the dominant cost in the protection package and it is routinely underestimated. Cut-to-order makes that cost visible and usually reduces it.
What it costs you
Lead time and flexibility. A cutting schedule has to be produced before the order, so the layout has to be known. Panels cut for one corridor will not fit another when the sequence changes, and offcuts from a bespoke order are worth little afterwards. On a programme where the phasing is still moving, that is a real risk.
The split that usually works
Stock sizes for the open areas, cut-to-order for the awkward ones – reveals, stair treads, column notches, lift cars. The awkward pieces are a small share of the area and most of the cutting time. Ordering them pre-cut gets most of the saving without committing the whole order to a layout that might change.
Tolerances worth stating
Say what tolerance is acceptable rather than leaving it implied. A panel cut to the millimetre will not go in if the opening is out of square, and site-cut openings want ten millimetres of clearance plus allowance for whatever the surface is wrapped in. A stated tolerance prevents an argument later.
What to send with the enquiry
A dimensioned layout, or a list of panel sizes and quantities. A drawing is better than a description, and a spreadsheet of sizes is better than a drawing that nobody has dimensioned. Where neither exists yet, buy stock and cut on site.
When bespoke is clearly right
Where the same shape repeats – a stair with forty identical treads, a lift car, a standard reveal – cut-to-order wins decisively: it fits, it is sealed, and it lays in a fraction of the time. Repetition is the test. One-off shapes are better cut on site; repeated shapes are almost always better cut at the factory, which is the same conclusion reached in cutting protection panels on site, waste and offcuts.
When custom sizes pay for themselves
Stock panel sizes suit open areas. They suit corridors badly, because a standard panel in a 1200 mm corridor leaves a strip that has to be cut, sealed and fitted anyway, and the strip is where the failures start. Ordering panels cut to the corridor width removes the joint entirely – one panel across, no trip edge, no offcut.
The economics depend on repetition. A single odd dimension is not worth a cutting setup; forty identical panels are. Send a room schedule rather than individual sizes and the factory can nest the cutting to reduce waste, which usually brings the price closer to stock than buyers expect. Lead time is the cost: allow for it in the programme rather than discovering it in week two. Panels cut slightly short at a skirting are the most common measuring error – always measure to the finished face, not the blockwork. The waste side is set out in cutting protection panels on site, waste and offcuts.
What we can do
We cut PP protection board to order with sealed edges on exposed cuts, and hold standard sizes for the open areas. Send us the layout or a size list, and we will quote both routes so you can see the difference before committing.