Guides / Facade Systems
An aluminium composite panel is two thin aluminium skins bonded to a non-aluminium core. That sandwich is the whole idea: the skins give the panel its surface, its colour and its weather resistance, and the core gives it thickness and stiffness without the weight or the cost of solid aluminium. Everything a buyer needs to specify — and almost every question that comes back on a quote — is about which layer you choose.
ACP, also written ACM for aluminium composite material, is a flat panel made of two aluminium sheets, typically 0.21 mm to 0.50 mm thick per side, bonded to a core. The standard sheet is 1220 × 2440 mm and the total thickness is usually stated as 3, 4, 5 or 6 mm. The two choices that matter most are the core, which decides fire performance, and the coating, which decides whether the panel survives outdoors: a PE (polyester) coating suits interior work, and a PVDF coating is what an exterior facade is normally specified with.
So the useful way to think about a quote is four layers: skin thickness, core type, coating system and surface finish. Two suppliers quoting “4 mm ACP” can be quoting different products, because the layer list underneath “4 mm” is not the same. The rest of this page is what each layer does and what to pin down before you order.
A composite panel is built up in layers, and each layer carries a different job.
The aluminium skins. These are the top and bottom faces. Their thickness is stated per side, and it is a number buyers overlook: a “4 mm” panel with 0.21 mm skins and a “4 mm” panel with 0.50 mm skins are the same overall gauge and different products. The skin carries the coating, so its thickness and its alloy are what the panel's weather performance ultimately rests on.
The core. The core is what makes the panel light and stiff. It is either polyethylene (PE) or a fire-rated mineral core. The mineral core is the grade to specify where a facade has to meet a fire classification; PE core is the standard choice for interior and signage work where that classification is not required. On our own ACP sheet range the fire-rated core is available to B1 or A2 grade, and the grade is confirmed against the specification you send rather than assumed.
The coating. The coating is the surface chemistry, and it is the layer with the shortest service life if it is chosen wrong. Polyester (PE) coatings are fine inside. For exterior use, the fluoropolymer family — PVDF — is the coating that resists ultraviolet light and chalking over the long term. Between these sit nano and brushed finishes, which are surface treatments as well as colours.
The finish and the colour. Solid colour, metallic, wood grain, stone, mirror and brushed finishes are the surface looks. Colour is confirmed against a physical chart rather than from a screen image, because a screen does not render metallic and wood-grain finishes faithfully and the difference becomes visible on a building.
These are the figures our own ACP sheet product page publishes. Where a project needs something outside them, the honest answer is “cut to order” rather than a number invented here.
| Item | Standard | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard sheet size | 1220 × 2440 mm | Other sizes cut to order |
| Panel thickness | 3 mm / 4 mm / 5 mm / 6 mm | State the thickness in the enquiry |
| Aluminium skin | 0.21 – 0.50 mm per side | By specification — the most-stated layer, the least-checked |
| Core | Polyethylene, or fire-rated mineral core (B1 / A2 grade) available | The layer that decides fire performance |
| Coating | PE (interior) · PVDF (exterior) · nano · brushed | PVDF is the exterior default |
| Surface finish | Solid colour · metallic · wood grain · stone · mirror · brushed | Colour confirmed against a physical chart |
| Packing | Protective film on face, timber crate or pallet | For sea freight; keep the film on until fixing |
| Test reports | Supplied on request | Against the grade your specification requires |
Specifications are quoted against your drawing or specification sheet. Tell us the market and the intended use, and we confirm what is feasible before quoting rather than after.
The common thread is flatness and weight. ACP is chosen where a large flat face is wanted without the weight, the cost or the fabrication effort of solid aluminium plate.
ACP is specified in layers, so it is priced per project rather than at a fixed list price. The aluminium skins track the metal market the same way our ceiling panels do, and the coating and the core each add their own step. Five inputs do most of the work:
Because the aluminium content is a market input, our ceiling panel page states the same rule we apply to ACP: prices follow the aluminium ingot price and are quoted per project, with the quotation held for the validity period it states. A price written into a brochure cannot be held for a project that starts two months later, and a supplier who publishes one anyway is quoting last quarter's metal.
ACP is easy to quote accurately if the layers are stated and hard to quote if they are not. Seven items are enough for us to confirm feasibility, and to price the sheet on the same document as the specification:
With those, the reply states the sheet specification layer by layer, the quantity, and the price on the same terms. Without the skin thickness and the core grade, a “4 mm ACP” quote is a comparison of two different products, which is how the same project ends up with three quotes that cannot be ranked.
The ACP sheet range publishes the sheet sizes, skin thickness band and core options on the product page, the ceiling and facade systems page covers the aluminium panel and finishing lines that sit alongside ACP on a facade, and the certifications page sets out what documentation a project can ask for and who issues it.
An aluminium composite panel is two thin aluminium skins bonded to a core. The skins carry the finish and the weather resistance; the core gives the panel its thickness and stiffness. A standard sheet is 1220 × 2440 mm, 3 to 6 mm thick overall, with skins between 0.21 and 0.50 mm per side.
Yes. ACM stands for aluminium composite material, and ACP for aluminium composite panel. They describe the same product; ACM is the term usually used when the fire performance of the core is being discussed, and ACP when the sheet is being ordered.
PE is polyester and suits interior panels and signage. PVDF is a fluoropolymer coating chosen for exterior facades because it resists ultraviolet light and chalking for longer. If a panel faces the weather, PVDF is the coating to specify, and the aluminium skin thickness under it matters as much as the coating does.
A panel is fire rated through its core, not its skins. A polyethylene core is the standard core for interior and signage use; where a facade has to meet a fire classification, a fire-rated mineral core is specified instead, and our range offers it to B1 or A2 grade. The grade is confirmed against the classification your project has to meet and supported by test reports on request.
The standard sheet is 1220 × 2440 mm at 3, 4, 5 or 6 mm overall thickness, with other sizes cut to order. Aluminium skin thickness is specified between 0.21 and 0.50 mm per side, and it is worth stating explicitly, because overall thickness alone does not describe the panel.
Per project, because the panel is specified in layers: skin thickness, core type, coating, surface finish and quantity. The aluminium skins track the metal market and the quotation is held for the validity period it states. Send the specification above and the sheet is priced on the same document as the agreed layers.
On a facade-and-interior package, ACP sheets and aluminium ceiling systems are often bought together, and both are priced from the same metal-market base and shipped in the same container. Consolidating them is a real freight saving, and it also makes the departure date the later of the two production schedules rather than the earlier one — a trade-off worth making deliberately rather than by default, as the lead time guide explains.