01The ten lines
Write them in this order. Each one is a decision, and the order runs from the decision that is hardest to change to the one that is easiest.
Line nine, the drain, is the one that changes the price most often and is the one most often omitted. If the bench is not going to drain, say so — that is a real specification, and it saves the fabricator from guessing.
02The three lines buyers leave out
These are the three causes of a bench that arrives correct and is still wrong.
| Omitted line | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Clearance to wall | Bench sealed to the wall, cannot be cleaned behind | Add 100 mm legs and a plinth |
| Which side is the working side | Upstand on the wrong edge | Mark the front edge on the drawing |
| What it is cleaned with | 304 specified for a chlorinated wash zone | State the sanitiser; we grade to it |
The third one is not pedantry. “Cleaned with a commercial sanitiser” tells us almost nothing; “chlorine-based, 1000 ppm, twice a shift” tells us the answer is 316L, and it costs less to specify it than to replace a pitted top in year three.
03Tolerances worth writing down
Four numbers. If they are not on the sheet, the default applies and it may not be what the site expects.
- Height ±2 mm — measured with the feet at mid-range, so there is adjustment left both ways on site.
- Length and depth ±1 mm — a bench that has to fit between two walls needs a negative tolerance, and that has to be asked for.
- Squareness ±2 mm on the diagonal — matters when two benches butt together in a run.
- Aperture position ±0.5 mm from the datum, if there is a sink or a cut-out in the top.
The ±0.05 mm figure that appears on our countertop pages is an edge tolerance on a machined edge. It has nothing to do with a bench outline, and quoting it for one is quoting a number nobody measures.
04A worked example, filled in
A 1500 mm single prep bench for a restaurant kitchen, in the form it should be sent.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Length × depth × height | 1500 × 600 × 900 mm |
| Top | 5 mm solid plate, 304 |
| Frame | 38 × 38 × 1.2 mm tube, one cross member |
| Undertray | turned-up 20 mm, welded, slotted |
| Edge | square, machined |
| Upstand | 100 mm, welded, rear |
| Drain | none — flat top, squeegee |
| Grade and finish | 304, 320 grit |
| Cleaning | detergent only, no chlorine |
| Front edge | long side away from the wall |
That is a complete specification. Two fabricators quoting against it will differ on price and on lead time, which is the point — they should not differ on what the article is.
05Sending it, and what comes back
Send the ten lines as a table in an email, or on a drawing with the numbers in a title block. We will come back in 24 hours with the top, the frame, the undertray and the packing costed as separate lines, so a change to one line does not reprice the others.
If a line is missing we will ask rather than assume, and if two lines conflict — a drain and a flat top, say — we will say so before quoting. Lead time is 15 working days from a confirmed order, all operations in one building, and each bench ships with an inspection sheet recording the height, the diagonal and the joint schedule; that sheet is what a warranty is settled against.
Commercial stainless steel countertops · The eight attributes of a kitchen bench · Countertop technical data · Send a drawing for quotation