PRODUCT COMPATIBILITY

Statement by the Plaster and Plasterboard manufacturers of Great Britain – revised 28 July 2005.

Each of the three main GB gypsum plaster and plasterboard manufacturers, British Gypsum, Knauf Drywall and Lafarge Plasterboard, agree the following statement through the offices of their trade association the Gypsum Products Development Association (hereby known as the GPDA members). This statement refers to the interchangeability of products from one or more of the above manufacturers, within any one plasterboard system.

The following products can be interchanged regardless of whether the end use is within a proprietary or non-proprietary system:

• jointing systems, specifically the use of tapes and jointing materials, but excluding tapeless jointing systems.
• finishing plaster manufactured in accordance with BS1191, part 1, 1973, which can be applied to the front face of any plasterboard manufactured to BS1230, Part 1, 1985 by any of the above manufacturers. Moisture Resistant plasterboard variants must be primed prior to plastering, in accordance with the plasterboard manufacturers’ recommendations.
  This statement does not apply to plaster and plasterboard manufactured before 1st January 1993.

No interchange of components other than those listed above can be undertaken on a proprietary system.

All plasterboard and associated products used within a non-proprietary system can be interchanged between the three manufacturers on a like for like basis.

Definitions

Proprietary systems

In the context of this statement, a proprietary system is a system from a manufacturer where a direct technical claim of performance is made by the manufacturer. The system’s performance is dependant on the complete system using components supplied by only one of the above manufacturers. The substitution of any system component may prejudice the system's performance.

Examples of such systems are:-

• partitioning and ceiling systems based on plasterboard fixed to cold rolled metal sections.
• systems involving composite plasterboards.
• systems with fire, sound, thermal or impact performance claims.

Non-proprietary systems

In the context of this statement, a non-proprietary system is a system where the specification is substantiated by a third party not related to the plasterboard manufacturer, e.g. BSI, Robust Details, BRE, and is usually based on nominal product dimensions e.g. thickness, density, etc.
Examples include :-

• plasterboard defined by weight within the Robust Details Limited Pattern Book.
• plasterboard defined by thickness as given in "Guidelines for the construction of fire resisting structural elements" (BRE 1988)
• metal studs defined by thickness within Approved Document E

The following points should be noted when referring to the above:-

• Products supplied by companies other than the companies listed above are not covered by this statement.
• The supplier of each product used within a non-proprietary system must have indicated (either on the product or in product literature) that it is suitable for the purpose for which it is intended and that it conforms with any relevant British Standard.
• Workmanship should be in strict accordance with any BSI Code of Practice, BS8000 Part 8 and BS5492 for plastering and manufacturers' literature.
• This statement only applies to products manufactured in Great Britain (or produced by the three manufacturers with the same specification and imported for use in that market) and fixed in Great Britain.