Guides / Facade Systems
Two suppliers can quote “ACP with fitting” for the same elevation and land three times apart, and neither is necessarily lying. The difference is scope. One rate includes the sub-frame, the sealant, the trims, the access equipment and the wastage; the other includes panels and labour, with everything else billed as a variation once the job starts. This page sets out the components that make up an installed rate, the arithmetic that turns a panel build-up into kilograms and cost drivers, and the scope matrix to send with a request so the quotes come back comparable.
“ACP price with fitting” is not a product price, it is a scope. An installed rate normally covers panels, sub-frame and brackets, fixings, sealant and backer rod, trims and flashings, labour, and access equipment, plus an allowance for cutting waste. Any of those can be moved in or out of a quote without the headline number changing much, which is why the rate has to be compared line by line against a stated scope rather than per square metre.
The practical step is to send the same scope matrix to every supplier and ask them to price each line, including the lines they intend to exclude. A supplier who says “not included” in writing is useful; one who says nothing is a variation waiting to happen.
An aluminium composite panel facade is a small system, not a sheet of board. Priced properly, an installed square metre contains eight things, and a rate that omits any of them is not cheaper, only less complete.
| Component | What it is | What changes its cost |
|---|---|---|
| Panel | Aluminium skins bonded to a core, cut to module size | Skin gauge, alloy, core chemistry, coating system, sheet size and offcut pattern |
| Sub-frame | Vertical and horizontal members fixed back to the structure | Material (aluminium or galvanised steel), member section, bracket spacing, substrate condition |
| Brackets and anchors | The connection from frame to slab or blockwork | Pull-out capacity, base material, corrosion class, whether a pull test is required |
| Fixings | Rivets or screws holding the panel to the frame | Stainless versus coated steel, rivet spacing, whether they are visible or concealed |
| Sealant and backer rod | Joints between panels and at openings | Movement class, UV exposure, colour matching, number of joint metres |
| Trims and flashings | Edges, corners, window heads, sills | Fold complexity, whether they are formed from the same coated coil or bought in |
| Labour | Installation crew, supervision, and the days on site | Access, height, module size, weather, how much cutting happens on site |
| Access equipment | Scaffold, mast climber, or MEWP | Duration, ground conditions, permits, whether the scaffold is shared with other trades |
A ninth line belongs in the same table even though it is not a component: the cutting-waste allowance. It is a percentage of panel area, it is real money, and it should be stated by the party who owns it.
The panel is the only component with a metal value inside it, so it is the one where two nominally identical descriptions can hide a large difference. The aluminium content of a composite panel is the sum of its two skins, and that is arithmetic anyone can check before a quote is discussed.
A skin of 0.30 mm over one square metre contains 0.30 mm × 1,000 mm × 1,000 mm of aluminium, which at a density of 2,700 kg per cubic metre is 0.81 kg. Two skins of that gauge give 1.62 kg of aluminium per square metre. At 0.50 mm the same sum gives 2.70 kg. At 0.21 mm, a gauge common on interior and signage panels, it gives 1.13 kg. The panel weight then adds the core: polyethylene at roughly 920 kg per cubic metre and mineral-filled core at a higher density, multiplied by the core thickness.
That single calculation explains most of the spread. A 4 mm panel with 0.21 mm skins carries less than half the aluminium of a 3 mm panel with 0.50 mm skins. The 3 mm product is the more expensive of the two, and it is also the one that will hold a fold at a return and resist a wind load at height. The comparison between 3 mm and 4 mm builds is set out in more detail on the thickness comparison page, including where each gauge stops being adequate.
Coating is the second variable. A polyester coating, a PVDF coating tested to AAMA 2605, and a coil coating verified under EN 13523 are three different price levels, and the test standard is the only way to tell them apart. Ask for the coating system name, the nominal dry film thickness and the standard it was tested to. A colour name is not a specification.
Copy this into the enquiry and ask for a price and a yes or no against every line. It takes ten minutes to prepare and it is the difference between three comparable quotes and three numbers that cannot be compared.
| Line | Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Panel specification | Total thickness, front and rear skin gauge, alloy, core class, coating system and standard | Sets the metal value, the fire classification and the warranty position |
| 2. Sheet sizes | Standard sheet dimensions and the module layout you are pricing | Drives the offcut pattern and therefore the waste |
| 3. Sub-frame | Material, section, spacing, and whether it is priced per square metre or per linear metre | A frame quoted per linear metre and installed per square metre is a common source of disputes |
| 4. Fixings | Grade, spacing, visible or concealed | Stainless versus coated steel is a durability decision, not a cosmetic one |
| 5. Sealant | Product, movement class, joint width, linear metres included | Sealant is often excluded because the quantity is unknown until the layout is fixed |
| 6. Trims | Which edges are formed from coated coil and which are bought-in profiles | Formed trims are cheaper and match the panel; bought-in profiles are faster and may not |
| 7. Waste | What percentage is included, and who owns the offcuts | Offcuts have resale or reuse value on a phased job |
| 8. Access | Which equipment, for how many weeks, and who provides it | The largest single omission in “labour only” rates |
| 9. Warranty | Separate periods for coating, panel, fixings and workmanship | A single “10 year” figure usually covers one component, not the system |
| 10. Validity | How long the rate holds, and against which metal index | Aluminium moves; a rate with no expiry is either loaded or about to be revised |
There are three commercial shapes for the same work, and buyers often compare one against another without noticing.
Supply only. The panel leaves as cut sheets or as full sheets, with the coating and the core documented. The buyer's installer owns the frame, the sealant and the waste. This is the easiest quote to compare, because the variables are inside the product and nowhere else.
Supply and fit. The supplier delivers and installs the panel system, on a frame that someone else has built, or that the supplier also builds. This is where scope gaps appear: whose frame, whose scaffold, whose making-good at the edges.
Full subcontract. One party owns the elevation from the substrate outwards: frame, panel, sealant, trims, access, and the programme. It is the most expensive headline rate and usually the cheapest final account, because the risk of a gap has been priced once by the party best placed to manage it.
For a project where the aluminium elevation is a small part of a larger package, the full subcontract is usually the right shape, because the installation knowledge sits with the party who does it every week. Where the main contractor has an established facade crew, supply only plus a documented specification is competitive. The wrong comparison is a supply-only rate against a full subcontract rate: they are not the same product.
Substrate surprises. A frame priced for blockwork that turns out to be a thin rainscreen cavity, or a slab edge that will not take an anchor at the designed spacing, changes the bracket design and the labour.
Module size creep. A larger module means fewer joints and fewer fixings per square metre, which should reduce cost. If the rate stays the same when the module grows, the saving has not been passed on.
Site cutting. Factory cutting with a controlled offcut pattern is cheaper than cutting on a scaffold. Ask where the cutting happens, because it decides both the quality of the edge and the waste percentage.
Access duration. Scaffold is rented by the week. A programme that slips by three weeks moves that line, and it is usually the first item to be claimed as a variation.
Coating substitution. A quote that names a colour but not a coating system can be delivered with a cheaper film. The check is a sample and a test certificate, not a photograph.
For the wider comparison of cladding rates across systems, the per-square-metre cladding guide sets out which components belong to the panel and which belong to the frame. The product pages for ACP sheets list the build-ups we quote, and the drawing review route is the fastest way to get a rate that matches your elevation rather than a generic one.
In a complete quote: panels, sub-frame and brackets, fixings, sealant and backer rod, trims and flashings, labour, access equipment, a stated waste allowance, and a warranty that separates coating, panel, fixings and workmanship. Anything shorter than that list needs the missing lines confirmed in writing before the rate is compared.
Per square metre of panel, supply only always looks cheaper, because the frame, sealant, access and labour are not in it. The comparison only becomes meaningful when both quotes price the same ten lines from the scope matrix above. Comparing the two headline numbers is how projects end up with a cheap panel price and an expensive final account.
The figure follows the module layout, the sheet size and the number of openings, so it cannot be fixed in advance for every project. What can be fixed is who owns it: ask each supplier to state the percentage included and what happens to the offcuts. A quote that includes no waste line has either loaded the panel rate or intends to bill the difference later.
Yes, through the core. Reaction to fire is classified under EN 13501-1, and the class is a property of the core chemistry rather than the thickness. A mineral-filled core that reaches a higher class costs more than an unfilled polyethylene core, and it also changes the weight the frame has to carry. Ask for the classification and the test standard on the offer, not after delivery.
Only if the height, the module size, the access method and the substrate are the same. Wind pressure rises with height, which changes the frame spacing and the fixing count; a different substrate changes the anchors. Re-using a rate across elevations is one of the commonest reasons a subcontractor's first valuation exceeds the tender.
Send the drawings, the module layout and the ten-line scope matrix, and the reply will price each line separately so you can compare it against the other quotes line by line.