Steel grating, GI grating, galvanized grating, mild steel grating, forged grating, serrated grating. Walk onto any UAE site and you will hear all of these, often describing panels that are not actually the same product. The names mix up three different things: what the panel is made of, how the bars are joined, and what the top surface looks like. This guide separates them out so you can specify the right panel instead of ordering by whichever name you heard last.
If you already know the type you want and just need sizes, weights and load classes, those are in our guide to GI grating sizes, load classes and weights.
Mild steel grating or galvanized grating
This is the material and finish question, and it is the one that costs the most money to get wrong.
- Mild steel grating is the bare panel, straight from fabrication. It is cheaper per square metre and it is fine indoors, in a dry covered plant, or where the panel gets painted as part of a coated assembly.
- Galvanized grating, GI grating or galvanised iron grating is the same panel dipped in molten zinc after it is welded. It is the default for anything outdoors in the UAE.
Dipping happens after fabrication for a reason. A grating panel is mostly edges: the top and bottom of every bearing bar, every cross bar weld, every cut end. Painting a panel like that leaves the welds and the inside faces thin or bare, and those are exactly the points that go first. Hot dip galvanizing to EN ISO 1461 coats all of it in one pass. Our guide to GI coating classes explains how coating thickness is set and how hot dip compares with pre galvanized sheet.
Stainless grating exists for food, pharmaceutical and highly corrosive process areas, but it costs several times a galvanized panel and is rarely the right answer for general walkways.
How the bars are joined
This is the construction method, and it is what people usually mean by grating types. All of these can be supplied in mild steel or galvanized.
Press locked grating
The cross bars are pressed into pre punched slots in the bearing bars under high pressure, locking them mechanically without welding at every joint. The result is a clean panel with a flat, even top surface and no weld splatter. Press locked is common where the panel is visible, such as architectural screens, facade panels and walkways in finished areas.
Welded grating
Cross bars are resistance welded across the bearing bars at each intersection. This is the standard industrial walkway and platform panel across the UAE, and the one most quotes assume unless you say otherwise. It is strong, economical and available in every common bar size.
Electroforged grating, also called forged grating
The cross bar is fused into the bearing bar under very high pressure and current, so the two become effectively one piece of steel rather than two parts joined at a point. The panel is noticeably more rigid and handles heavy repeated loading better than a standard welded panel. Electroforged is what you want on offshore structures, heavy industrial platforms and anywhere panels take forklift or vehicle traffic over a long span. It costs more, so it is worth specifying where it earns the money rather than everywhere.
Swage locked and riveted grating
Swage locked panels use a round or flat cross rod swaged into the bearing bars, and are usually supplied in aluminium rather than steel. Riveted grating uses a bent connecting bar riveted to each bearing bar, which produces a very strong panel with a serrated profile built in. Both turn up occasionally on imported assemblies and in specific industrial specifications.
| Type | Relative cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Press locked | Medium | Visible walkways, screens, architectural work |
| Welded | Low | General industrial walkways, platforms, trench covers |
| Electroforged (forged) | High | Heavy duty, offshore, vehicle and forklift loading |
| Swage locked | Medium | Aluminium panels, lightweight access |
| Riveted | High | Heavy duty with built in slip resistance |
Plain or serrated
This is the top surface, and it is independent of the construction method. A plain panel has a flat bar top edge. A serrated panel has the top edge of each bearing bar notched into small teeth.
Serrated grating costs a little more and weighs very slightly less, because material is removed from the top edge. Specify it where the surface gets wet, oily, dusty or sandy: wash down areas, process plant, pump rooms, tank farms, external stairs and anywhere near the coast where salt spray lands. For a dry covered walkway, plain is fine and cheaper. Stair treads are a special case and are almost always serrated with a checker plate nosing.
Heavy duty and vehicle grating
Heavy duty grating is not a separate product so much as a specification. It means a deeper, thicker bearing bar, often at a tighter pitch, sized against the wheel load and the clear span rather than picked off a shelf. For forklift traffic, loading bays and yard trench covers you are typically looking at 40 x 5 or 50 x 5 bearing bar, sometimes deeper, and often an electroforged panel rather than a standard welded one.
Two things decide it: the load class the drawing calls for, and the clear span of the opening. A panel that is rated for a car park will fail under a loaded forklift, and the frame it sits in matters as much as the panel. Send the opening width and the traffic it takes and the panel gets specified to suit.
Ramp grating and stair treads
Ramp grating is standard grating cut and banded to a sloping opening, usually serrated because the slope makes slipping more likely, and sometimes with the bearing bars running across the slope rather than along it for extra grip. Stair treads are supplied as individual panels with a serrated nosing plate on the front edge and end plates drilled to match your stringer bolt pattern. Send the stringer detail and the going and rise, not just a tread count.
Fabricated grating
Fabricated grating simply means the panel has been worked after it was made: cut to a non rectangular shape, cut out around pipes, columns and drains, banded on every cut edge, fitted with kick plates, or built into a frame. Two rules matter here.
- Band every cut edge. A cut edge with no flat bar banding lets the bars spread and come apart in service. This is the single most common grating failure on site.
- Fabricate before galvanizing. Cutting after the panel is dipped exposes bare steel on every cut, which then has to be treated with zinc rich paint and will still be the first place rust shows. Send the drawing and the cut outs are made and banded before the panel goes in the bath.
Which type to specify
- Dry indoor walkway, light foot traffic: welded, plain, mild steel or galvanized
- External walkway or platform in the UAE: welded, serrated, hot dip galvanized
- Wash down or process area: welded or electroforged, serrated, galvanized
- Forklift, vehicle or heavy repeated loading: electroforged, serrated, galvanized, deeper bearing bar
- Visible or architectural: press locked, plain, galvanized or coated
- Trench and drain covers in a yard or road: specified against the EN 1433 load class, usually welded or electroforged
What to send for a quote
- Opening sizes or panel sizes, and the clear span
- Traffic the panel takes, or the load class if the drawing gives one
- Plain or serrated
- Galvanized or bare mild steel
- Any cut outs, banding, kick plates, clips or stair tread details
- Quantity in square metres or panels, and the delivery location
If you are not sure which type suits, send the opening and the traffic and it gets specified rather than guessed. Panel weights per square metre for every common bar size are in the steel weight chart.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GI grating and steel grating?
They usually describe the same panel. Steel grating is the product, GI grating means that panel has been hot dip galvanized. A bare panel is normally called mild steel grating.
What is forged grating?
The common name for electroforged grating, where the cross bar is fused into the bearing bar under pressure and current rather than welded at a point. It is stiffer and better suited to heavy or repeated loading.
Is serrated grating worth the extra cost?
Outdoors in the UAE, and anywhere the surface gets wet, oily or sandy, yes. For a dry covered walkway plain is fine.
What is heavy duty grating?
Not a separate product, but a deeper and thicker bearing bar specified against the wheel load and the clear span, often in an electroforged panel.
Can grating be cut on site?
It can, but every cut edge needs banding and the cut exposes bare steel. Cutting and banding before galvanizing is always the better job.
Do you supply mill test certificates?
Yes, MTCs are issued with the material.
Getting a price
Send your grating requirement through the steel quote request form or on WhatsApp at +971 56 227 5722. Sizes, heavy duty options and trench cover details are on our GI gratings page, and deliveries go to all seven emirates.
For the full range of sections we supply, with sizes, grades and standards, see our full product list.