British Gypsum Installations

British Gypsum is the dominant plasterboard manufacturer in the UK commercial construction market, holding the largest share of both product supply and system documentation for drywall and partition assemblies. The White Book system approach, which documents tested assembly specifications rather than just individual product data, makes British Gypsum one of the reference systems for fire-rated and acoustic partition work in UK commercial fit-out.

Who is British Gypsum?

British Gypsum is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Saint-Gobain Group, the French multinational building materials company. The UK plasterboard business has operated under the British Gypsum name since the 1950s, with manufacturing at East Leake in Nottinghamshire and at other UK sites. Saint-Gobain's broader UK presence includes other building materials brands, but British Gypsum is the entity relevant to our plasterboard and drywall work.

The UK commercial construction market sources a significant proportion of its plasterboard through British Gypsum, and the White Book system documentation is one of the two or three reference documents that specifying engineers, fire engineers and dry lining contractors use to confirm fire-rated and acoustic partition assemblies in UK commercial projects.

The White Book system approach

The British Gypsum White Book is the system specification document that defines tested partition, wall and floor assemblies using Gyproc board and GypFrame framing. Each assembly in the White Book is documented with the specific stud type and gauge, board specification, board layers, fixing type and centres, insulation specification, and perimeter detailing required to achieve a given EI fire rating or Rw acoustic performance. The system has been tested under BS EN 1364-1 (fire) and BS EN ISO 10140 (acoustic) and the test evidence is referenced in the documentation.

Working to the White Book means we install the tested assembly, not an approximation of it. Every component in a fire-rated or acoustic partition, stud gauge and centres, board specification and layers, fixing type, infill density, perimeter detailing, and firestopping at penetrations, must match the White Book system to maintain the rated performance. We confirm the system reference at pre-construction on every fire-rated and acoustic assembly and include the system reference in the O&M record at handover.

Metal framing systems

British Gypsum supplies GypFrame, their own metal framing range, alongside the Gyproc board products. GypFrame includes C-stud sections in standard partition widths (50 mm, 70 mm, 92 mm, 100 mm), U-track head and base runner, ceiling sections and specialist profiles. White Book tested assemblies are documented for GypFrame framing with Gyproc boards as the reference system.

We install GypFrame framing where the project specification and tested assembly call for it, and equally install independent framing from manufacturers including Hadley Group, Tradeline and Speedline where the project benefits from supply chain flexibility. The critical requirement is that the complete assembly, framing, board, infill and detailing, matches a tested specification regardless of the framing source. We confirm the framing selection against the tested assembly at pre-construction on every fire-rated and acoustic project.

Get in touch

If you are specifying a project using British Gypsum board and framing systems, or need to confirm the White Book assembly for a specific fire or acoustic target, we would be glad to discuss the brief. Send drawings or the specification with the form on this page and we will come back with a clear next step within one working day. For urgent enquiries call 01332 757830 or email enquiries@eastledge.co.uk.