Delivery
We engage a third party transport company for delivery of all materials. Standard sized porcelain tiles are delivered on EPAL Euro pallets measuring 800 x 1200 mm. The delivery vehicle will be a 14 or 18 tonne commercial ‘curtainsider’ or an 18 tonne ‘Hiab’ crane lorry. Pallet deliveries will be made to the kerbside only using a pallet truck. Due to the weight, the delivery lorry is not able to enter driveways or proceed off the public highway. It is important that you inform us of any road or parking restrictions or any special requirements prior to the delivery date.
Large Formats
Deliveries of large format tiles (which includes all tiles with dimensions 1500 x 1500 mm and above) are typically made using an 18 tonne ‘Hiab’ crane lorry and delivered on wooden ‘A frame’ racks. These ‘A Frames’ are extremely heavy and have dimensions of 312 x 74 x 191(H) cm. A maximum of 50 slabs (25 each side) can be delivered on each frame. With the wooden frame itself weighing 220 kg and each individual porcelain slab weighing up to 60 kg, a single ‘A frame’ might weigh over 3000 kg.
18 tonne Hiab crane truck
The ‘A frame’ will be off-loaded from the truck and placed at the kerbside for unloading. We highly recommend that tiles are taken directly to the area of installation and that a specialist tile handling frame is used.
Please note that typically the wooden ‘A frames’ are for transport only and, unless prior approval has been given, will not be left on-site.
 ‘A frame’ dimensions 312 x 74 x 191(H) cm |
 Supporting up to 25 slabs per side |
Collections
In prearranged circumstances clients are able to collect their goods from our distribution warehouse. Their goods will be packaged safely either inside a customised crate or an ‘A-frame’ rack. They will be packed in accordance with health and safety regulations (The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992) and follow all manufacturers handling and packaging recommendations.
Important Notice
Due to these health and safety regulations, collections from our warehouse are authorised only with these specified vehicles:
- Flatbed van
- Drop-side van
- or 7.5 tonne box truck
 Flatbed van |
 Drop side van |
 7.5 tonne box truck |
In addition The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 does not permit any manual ‘hand-balling’ or manually loading.
Please note: At all times the health and safety of our staff and clients is our primary concern. Collections with standard cargo vans, panel vans or those expecting to manually load, will be refused on site.
Collection of standard formats tiles
Health & Safety regulations for the collection of standard formats are less stringent. Clients are able to collect standard format, the only stipulation being that they will need to use a commercial vehicle.
Claims / Damages
Once the delivery has been offloaded from the vehicle clients are required to carefully check over their goods. Our drivers will typically allocate a 10 – 15 minute time slot for this checking process to take place. Clients are then asked to sign the delivery note. At this point clients are required to document any damage to the external packaging or breakages to tiles on their delivery note. They need to take photographic evidence to assist with any future claim. These photographs must clearly show the damaged tile inside the carton. Once the tiles have been removed from the carton, they may not be covered under our insurance policy. The goods will not be covered if the delivery note is signed without mention of any damage, and without supporting photos from the time of delivery. Signing ‘unchecked’, ‘unexamined’ or similar is not a valid response.
Please ensure you have read all the information provided in this document prior to arranging delivery – Porcelain Tiles – Pre-delivery Guide PDF (2.8Mb).
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