Fire-rated honeycomb panels for stand building

Why fire performance decides the build

A contractor building a stand answers to more than the client: they answer to the venue's technical regulations and, in the end, to the officer who signs the hall off. For materials that means demonstrated fire performance — and it has to be shown, not asserted.

In practice you get asked twice: at stand plan approval, and again at the inspection before opening. Both times what is needed is a document that travels with the material. A "fire-rated" panel with nothing to show for it is, procedurally, an ordinary panel.

That is why our fire-rated finish leaves the plant with the fire-performance documentation for the material supplied — at no extra cost and without you having to ask for it separately.

What changes against the standard panel

The construction is identical to the standard panel PSL: knot-free finger-jointed spruce frame, high-grammage perforated core, edge venting, sanded skins. What changes is the fire-retardant MDF skins; the white wood adhesive is standard across our whole production anyway.

Sizes, widths and heights match the standard range, up to 6,000 mm. Fire-rated white and black laminate is also available on every size at extra cost — worth having when the panel has to arrive finished and stay visible, with no painting on site.

Fire-rated versions are also available for stand doors, levelling platforms and RAL-lacquered panels: on a stand with fire requirements it pays to look at the whole package, not just the walls.

Class 1, Class 0 or Euroclass: read the manual twice

"Fire rated" is a description. The classification is what the stand inspection looks for on paper, and in the UK there are two systems in circulation at once — which is why this needs a moment rather than a bullet point.

Class 0 and Class 1 come from BS 476 Part 7, the old national test for surface spread of flame. They are legacy terminology: Class 0 is no longer the reaction-to-fire specification route in Approved Document B for new building work in England. The current route is BS EN 13501-1 — the Euroclass system, A1 through F with an s suffix for smoke and a d suffix for flaming droplets.

But exhibitor manuals have not all caught up, and it is entirely normal to receive one asking for "Class 1 surface spread of flame to BS 476 Part 7" — wording carried forward edition after edition. And here is the part that is not intuitive: the two systems do not convert. There is no official table that turns B-s1,d0 into Class 1. They are different tests measuring different things.

So the practical step is one email. Where a manual asks for Class 1, ask the organiser in writing whether a BS EN 13501-1 classification is accepted, and keep the reply. In our experience the answer is almost always yes — Euroclass is the current national route — but "almost always" is not a document, and an email takes them a minute. Ask before you order, not before you build.

Two further points worth knowing before you commit:

• Quote the classification in full, with suffixes. A classification without its s and d values is incomplete for a manual that specifies them, and a careful organiser will come back asking.
• A report covers the tested build-up, not the idea. Combine a classified product with an unclassified element — an inserted acrylic pane, an applied film, a coating added later — and the classification no longer holds for that combination. What goes on the stand has to match what was tested.

The whole picture, including where untreated board sits and how Ireland differs, is on a page of its own: exhibition stand fire regulations — Class 1, Class 0 or Euroclass?

Untreated wood-based board — solid timber, chipboard, MDF, OSB, plywood — sits around D-s2,d0. This version exists because that is not always enough; it uses fire-retardant MDF skins, and the fire-performance documentation for the material supplied travels with the delivery at no extra charge.

2026 prices

The "fire-rated MDF" column of the price list, 40 and 50 mm. Net prices excluding VAT, per piece, documentation included.

The functional variants — electrical, exhibition, reinforced, slatwall — are available fire-rated in the same sizes. We will send the complete PDF price list on request to ordini@pandooragroup.it.

What documentation we supply

With the delivery you receive the fire-performance documentation for the material supplied, in the form the stand submission needs. If your venue or your client asks for a particular format or for additional evidence, tell us when you order and not after the truck arrives: chasing a document once the stand is already standing is the worst position to be in.

The full picture is on the certificates and documentation page.

Availability, special sizes and delivery

Standard sizes are always in stock. We normally ship within 7 days of order confirmation and in practice almost always sooner: in exhibition work the enquiry arrives from one day to the next, and we are set up for that.

• Minimum order: none. We make single pieces.
• Non-standard sizes: any size to drawing, with no cutting surcharge — you pay the price of the next standard size up.
• Delivery: UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, the Gulf and the whole of Europe, including direct to the exhibition halls within your build-up slot.
• Prices: net, VAT excluded, 2026 price list, ex works Fontanelle (TV), Italy.

For deliveries outside Italy we agree the build-up slot, the customs paperwork where it applies and the transport documents with you in advance.

Frequently asked questions

Let's talk about your project

Sizes, quantities and finish: with those three things we normally send a written quote within 24 working hours. We work in English, French, German and Italian.