GRP Roofing Materials Delivery in the UK: How It Works

Why GRP materials are 'hazardous goods'

Polyester resins and topcoats are styrene-based and classed as flammable liquids (UN1866). MEKP catalyst is an organic peroxide (UN3105) — corrosive and oxidising. Acetone is highly flammable. None of these can legally travel with a standard parcel carrier.

Instead they move under ADR — the European agreement covering dangerous goods by road — on couriers licensed and equipped for it. That's why hazardous items carry a delivery surcharge and occasionally an extra day in transit: it's a smaller, specialist network.

The non-hazardous half of your order — matting, trims, bandage, rollers, tools — has no such restriction and can travel by ordinary carrier anywhere in the UK.

How delivery is priced and how it arrives

Delivery is priced live by your postcode and what's in your basket, shown at checkout before you pay — no quote-by-email round trip. Small non-hazardous orders go by parcel; anything with tubs of resin in it is heavy (a 20 kg tub is exactly that) and typically travels by pallet.

Pallet delivery is kerbside with a tail-lift: the driver lowers the pallet to the nearest safe hard-standing. They can't carry tubs through the house or up a ladder, so have a sack truck or a second pair of hands ready — a single-garage kit is roughly 100 kg of materials.

Economy services typically run 2–3 working days; next-day is available on many mainland postcodes for orders placed before the daily cut-off, with availability and price shown at checkout.

Where hazardous goods can't go

The ADR network doesn't cover everywhere. We cannot deliver hazardous items — resin, topcoat, catalyst, acetone — to the Scottish Highlands and Scottish islands, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Non-hazardous items (matting, trims, tools, bandage) can usually still be delivered to those areas by ordinary carrier — get in touch if your basket is mixed and we'll split what's possible.

If you're in a restricted area and need the full kit, collection is the answer — plenty of customers heading to a job combine a collection with a materials top-up.

Collection from Boston, Lincolnshire

Collection is free from our depot at Langrick Road, Hubberts Bridge, Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 3SG. Choose collection at checkout and we'll confirm when the order is picked and ready.

Collection sidesteps every restriction: no hazmat surcharge, no restricted postcodes, and you can throw in a last-minute extra roller when you arrive. For trade customers doing regular jobs in the East Midlands it's usually the cheapest route.

One note if you're collecting hazardous goods in your own vehicle: keep tubs upright and secured, keep catalyst separated from resin and acetone, and ventilate the load space. Small owner-use quantities are fine to carry, but treat the load with respect.

Ordering so delivery goes smoothly

Order everything in one basket. One pallet with the full kit costs less than two deliveries a week apart — and the mid-job top-up order is the expensive one, because a single 20 kg tub still needs the hazardous network.

That's the practical case for calculating quantities properly before you order: the kit builder works out exact tub counts from your roof dimensions, so the pallet that arrives is the whole job. Check the weather window before you book delivery, too — materials sat waiting are fine (store resin cool, catalyst cooler and separate), but there's no point paying next-day for a wet fortnight.

On delivery day: someone present to receive it, access for a tail-lift vehicle, and somewhere frost-free to store the tubs. Once it's off the tailgate, the safe storage is down to you.

Frequently asked questions