Zentia is in administration. Your project specifies Zentia. Here's what happens next.

What has happened

Zentia Limited and Zentia Profiles Limited entered administration on 8 June 2026. Interpath appointed Will Wright and James Lumb as joint administrators. Zentia's Ultima, Sierra and Dune tile ranges and Prelude grid system have been specified across UK commercial interiors for decades.

Interpath has said that production at the two Gateshead sites ceased after the appointments and that it would seek a sale of the businesses, assets and residual stock. Product availability, technical support and warranty arrangements should therefore be checked for each live project rather than assumed from a historic specification.

For projects with Zentia named on the drawings, whether in a live tender, a live construction programme or a refurbishment specification not yet out to price, the practical question is what route the contract and specification allow. An equal or approved clause may provide a route to a replacement product, but it is not automatic permission to make a substitution.

What "equal or approved" actually means

Equal or approved is commonly used specification language. Its meaning depends on the contract documents and the wording of the particular specification. Where it applies, it allows a delivery team to propose an alternative product that meets the stated requirements and is approved through the project's required process before it is ordered or installed. A named product can still be mandatory, so the specification and contract must be checked first.

The phrase is not a loophole. It is a documented approval route. It works like this.

The main contractor, or in most cases the specialist installer, identifies a candidate product against the requirements that matter to the design. Those can include acoustic absorption, light reflectance, reaction to fire, edge detail, tile size, grid and system compatibility, humidity resistance, hygienic finish and visual appearance. The candidate is submitted with a comparison table, current technical data and the evidence needed for the project to assess compliance.

The designer or other authorised approver then decides whether the proposed product satisfies the specification and design intent. Written approval should be obtained before installation. The project record should show what was originally specified, what was proposed, the evidence reviewed, the approval given and any conditions attached. That documentation matters at handover and if the ceiling is later repaired, extended or replaced.

If a proposed product changes a required performance characteristic or the approved design, it should be treated as a design change, not as a routine like-for-like swap. The design team should assess it through the project's change-control process. Fire performance, Higher-Risk Buildings, Building Control requirements and contractual warranty obligations can require additional review.

Potential alternatives to Zentia in the UK

Rockfon, Ecophon and Knauf Ceiling Solutions all supply ceiling systems in the UK that may be suitable candidates when a Zentia product cannot be obtained. They are not automatic or universal equivalents to Ultima, Sierra, Dune or Prelude. The right product must be assessed against the particular tile, grid and performance requirements in the original specification.

Rockfon supplies stone wool acoustic ceiling tiles, grids and complete systems, including acoustic and hygienic ranges. Stone wool is a type of mineral wool, but it has different material characteristics from the mineral fibre products used in many Zentia systems. The tile, grid, edge detail and tested system performance must be checked together.

Ecophon supplies glass wool acoustic ceiling systems, including lay-in tiles, free-hanging units and wall absorbers. Its products can be relevant where acoustic performance is central to the brief, but a glass wool system should be compared with the specified Zentia system on a product-by-product basis, including its compatible grid and perimeter details.

Knauf Ceiling Solutions supplies mineral fibre lay-in tiles, hygienic systems, acoustic panels and metal ceiling products. It is a separate supplier from Zentia. Its mineral fibre ranges can be candidates for some standard lay-in ceiling specifications, subject to a full comparison of the required performance and system evidence.

Other manufacturers or specialist systems may also be appropriate. Availability, lead times and technical support can change, so they must be confirmed at the point of procurement. What matters is a properly evidenced, project-specific substitution and an installer competent in the selected system.

What the specification substitution looks like in practice

On a live project, the equal or approved process runs roughly as follows.

The specifier's original tile is identified from the ceiling schedule or the reflected ceiling plan. Its performance criteria are extracted from the technical data sheet: acoustic Class, absorption coefficient, light reflectance percentage, fire rating, edge detail, tile size, humidity resistance rating and hygienic surface treatment where applicable.

A candidate substitute is selected and compared against those criteria, including the tile, grid and all system components. A product that differs in a required criterion is not automatically acceptable because it performs more strongly in another area. The designer must decide whether it still meets the brief or whether the proposal needs to be revised and managed as a design change.

The substitute is submitted to the specifier with the comparison table, current technical documentation, relevant declarations and marking evidence, compatibility information and any warranty position required by the contract. Approval is confirmed in writing and attached to the project record. Installation then proceeds using the substitute manufacturer's current system guidance.

On a Higher-Risk Building or where the ceiling contributes to the fire strategy, the project team should confirm whether the change requires a formal notification or approval. Product evidence should be retained while it remains accessible, rather than relying on historic approvals or a manufacturer's previous website information.

What Eastledge does when Zentia is on the drawings

Eastledge has installed the Zentia (and historic Armstrong UK) mineral fibre ranges across UK commercial interiors since 1986. Ultima at Glenair Mansfield. Sierra Bioguard at Nottingham Trent University Clifton Campus. Dune at Charnock Hall School in Sheffield and across the Kia dealership at Burton-on-Trent. The Zentia specification base is familiar territory for our supervisors and fixers.

Following the administration, we can identify potential alternatives from Rockfon, Ecophon and Knauf Ceiling Solutions for projects across the UK. We coordinate the comparison and substitution documentation with the specifier and main contractor as part of the pre-installation submittal process. We only proceed with the approved product and install it to the substitute manufacturer's current technical guidance.

If your project has Zentia named on the drawings and you need a route through to installation, send the ceiling schedule, the reflected ceiling plan or the specification and we will come back with a comparison table and a clear next step quickly.

For a regional example, see our suspended ceilings across the East Midlands service page.

Further reading

Read more about our approach to the Zentia and equal or approved specification process on the Zentia legacy specification page. Product pages for the three principal alternatives are here: Rockfon, Ecophon and Knauf Ceiling Solutions. For a wider view of how we run commercial ceiling programmes, see the suspended ceiling installation service or contact us about a live project.