Design & Specification Guides

These guides turn a material preference into a buildable specification: how a panel is priced, installed, and expected to perform, not only how it looks. The parent map is the metal wall coverings guide. The readers are architects, specifiers, and contractors. Open the metal wall panel specification checklist to copy or print its eleven rows before a note goes out for pricing or review. Each row records what to write and who confirms it; close fire, wind/span and finish items with the applicable evidence, or mark them as pending submittal verification.

These pages distinguish three layers on purpose: general material behaviour, product-specific properties, and matters that require an engineer or local code review. The Whole Building Design Guide metal panel wall systems article is useful because it keeps the wall in that larger unit.

Before fixing the joint grid or ordering sheets, use the metal wall panel sizes and thickness guide to separate stock dimensions, installed coverage and fabrication allowances.

When sizing expansion joints and slotted fastener holes for wall panels, use the metal expansion joint slot width guide.

When the wall is already installed and the finish is fading or peeling, start with the repainting metal siding check and name the metal and the existing coating before any paint.

When evaluating chalking, touch-up limits, and field recoating primers on fluoropolymer finishes, use the PVDF coating chalking and field repair guide.

Before field cuts, use the metal siding cutting guide to match the panel and cut line to manufacturer tool conditions, then copy its before-and-after inspection card.

The six guides

Metal cladding cost: why the installed number moves with gauge, finish, system type, access equipment and labour. It will not issue a quote and it will not publish city price lists.

Metal wall panel installation: substrates, clips, flashings and sequence. A correct metal on the wrong substrate is still a failed wall.

Metal panel finishes: PVDF, powder coating, anodizing and living patinas. Finish class belongs in the specification. A sample chip is not a coating system.

Metal cladding corrosion: galvanic couples, coastal salt, cut edges and wet cavities. Isolation and drainage are design items.

Oil canning: the visible waviness of flat metal. Width, stiffening, gloss and expectation management reduce it. It is usually a visual issue, not a structural one.

Metal wall panel fire performance: the page that exists so no other page has to overclaim. Skin, core, insulation, cavity and attachments are listed separately. Metal panels are not fireproof.

How these pages should be used with materials and systems

Read materials for the metal and systems for the format, then use this hub to write the limits that those pages cannot honestly quantify.

A Metal Composite Material fire note belongs here and on the system page, not as a one-line claim on a colour sheet. An insulated-panel thermal value belongs to that sandwich, not to a single-skin cassette. For open solar screens and parking-garage enclosures, pair these finish and corrosion rules with the perforated metal facade panels open area, wind, and AAMA 2605 specification guide. A zinc ventilation note belongs on the zinc page and in the installation package.

What belongs in the written specification

At minimum, a metal wall note should name the metal, the panel format, the drainage strategy, the coating or patina class, compatible fixings, movement joints, and the listed assembly for fire and wind where the occupancy requires it. If those lines are missing, the drawing is still a rendering.

Applications tell you whether that note is for a weather wall, an interior liner, a commercial elevation or a house. Do not enlarge a residential accent note into a civic envelope.

Metal wall panel specification checklist

The checklist brings the linked guides into one record. Copy its rows into your specification format or print this page; retain the Who confirms it column when recording responsibilities.

Item	What to write in the specification	Who confirms it
Use and exposure	Interior or exterior, orientation, and exposure such as coastal salt or industrial pollution	Designer
System and drainage	The panel format, and whether the wall drains, encloses or screens; see systems	Designer, with the system manufacturer
Metal and thickness	Metal, alloy or grade, and gauge or thickness; see materials	Designer, from manufacturer data
Finish	Finish system and performance class, color code, gloss, batch control, touch-up limits, and warranty clauses named separately; see finishes	Coater or panel manufacturer
Fixings and corrosion	Allowed fastener and flashing metals, isolation at dissimilar-metal contacts, and the rule for field-cut edges; see corrosion	Designer, with the manufacturer
Joints, flashings and movement	Joint type, flashings at openings, base and parapet, and fixed and sliding points for thermal movement; see installation	Designer; manufacturer-reviewed shop drawings
Flatness	Module width and stiffening for flat fields, and the viewing distance and lighting for acceptance; see oil canning	Designer and manufacturer, proven on a mockup
Fire	Skin, core, insulation, cavity barriers and the exact listed or tested assembly; never the word fireproof; see fire performance	Manufacturer listing and the authority having jurisdiction
Wind and spans	Design wind pressure and spans taken from the manufacturer’s tested tables for the actual product	Engineer of record, from manufacturer data
Installation and inspection	Substrate flatness, sequence of barrier, flashings, rails and panels, and an inspection before the skin closes the wall	Installer, to the approved shop drawings
Pricing scope	What each bid includes: flashings, corners, custom pieces and access method; see cost	Estimator or bidder

Three rows can only be closed with evidence from outside the drawing set: fire, wind and spans, and finish performance. The designer can write what is required, but the listing report, the tested span table and the coater’s certification are what prove it. If any of those is missing when the note goes out, mark it as pending verification from the manufacturer’s listing instead of filling it with a typical value.

How to use this hub

1. Keep the four-question order from the metal wall coverings guide.
2. Open the one technical guide that matches the argument in the meeting.
3. Bring the manufacturer listing and the authority having jurisdiction into the items this site marks as assembly-specific.
4. Use the comparisons hub only after the specification limits are named.