Application

Agricultural & Poultry Housing

Poultry houses are thermally brutal: a large, low-mass roof plane over an environment that must hold a brooding set-point against night loss and a summer heat load, with wash-down hygiene and no ceiling void for dust or vermin. Most SA houses use a bare steel sheet with loose insulation or none, so the roof is simultaneously the biggest heat-gain path, the biggest heat-loss path and the hardest surface to clean. This application sits in the roof/ceiling plane (and, on re-clad jobs, the wall plane): a factory-laminated sandwich panel that is sheet, insulation and washable finished ceiling in a single lay, sized against a thermal-load model rather than a code minimum — because a livestock house is not an occupancy that SANS 10400-XA regulates.

Size this assembly Request a spec or quote

What it must achieve

Performance targets

Requirement	Target	Standard	Note
Roof/ceiling R-value (the bird house itself)	Set by thermal load, not by code — LiteSpan delivers R 1.6 / 2.3 / 3.0 / 3.6 / 4.4 m2K/W at 50 / 75 / 100 / 120 / 150 mm	derived from the SANS 54509 ITT lambda (OTH-T-2309-04)	A livestock house is not an XA-regulated occupancy — there is no legal R minimum for it. Thickness is chosen against brooding energy, summer heat gain and ventilation rate. R at 50 and 120 mm is CALCULATED from the ITT lambda; the rest are brochure-confirmed.
Roof/ceiling R-value (farm office, staff accommodation, packhouse offices on the same site)	Total R >= 3.7 m2K/W in ALL zones (Zone 5H humid-coastal keeps 2.7 with roof ventilation)	SANS 10400-XA:2021 deemed-to-satisfy	This is where XA actually bites on a poultry site. XA:2011 was zone-specific {1:3.7, 2:3.2, 3:2.7, 4:3.7, 5:2.7, 6:3.5}. A 120 mm LiteSpan (R 3.6) is just short of 3.7; 150 mm (R 4.4) clears it. Run the free XA checker.
External walls of any XA-regulated building on the site	Double-skin (cavity) masonry OR a plastered single leaf >= 140 mm needs NO added insulation	SANS 10400-XA deemed-to-satisfy	Do not sell wall insulation into a compliant masonry wall. Only lightweight / non-qualifying walls need a minimum total R >= 0.35 m2K/W. Insulate a masonry dwarf wall only if the bird-thermal model, not the code, asks for it.
Reaction to fire	B-s1,d0 (Euroclass)	SANS 53501-1	LiteSpan panel: report IT 24-06-00029 (150 mm, valid approx 2029) — the only insulated panel on SA's national reaction-to-fire register. FRCel EPS 60 mm: IT 23-08-00009 (valid approx 2028). This is a reaction-to-fire class, NOT a fire-resistance (minutes) rating, and EPS remains combustible (fire-retardant treated).
Fire resistance (rated separation, e.g. house-to-feed-store)	Plain EPS-core panels have NO fire-resistance rating. The only current load-bearing pass in the range is the NuClad LiteCore LSF wall at FR60 (E/I/R 60)	SANS 10177-2	Report FT 24-003 (valid approx 2029). Stone Wool FR30/FR60 and the FR120 firewall are on file but LAPSED — revalidation required. PIR carries no fire-resistance rating (a 100 mm PIR 40 panel FAILED its SANS 10177-2 test).
Structural load / span	Per the ITT-calibrated LiteSpan load/span design tables	SANS 54509 (ITT OTH-T-2309-04)	The 2024 brochure spans (2.5/3.0/3.5/4.0 m at 1.6 kN/m2) and the 2021 brochure spans (5.0-8.0 m) are SUPERSEDED and must not be quoted. Design against the actual wind load and span condition.
Hygiene / wash-down	Coated-steel skins both faces; white washable underside serves as the finished ceiling		No fibre shedding, no ceiling void. No chemical-resistance testing against poultry disinfectants exists on file — verify solvent carriers against EPS before use.

Where it goes

The assembly

Outer skin — LiteSpan 990 IBR (exposed valley fix) or 990 Standing Seam (concealed clip) — Chromadek / coated-steel outer skin, factory-laminated. Cover width 990 mm both profiles. Min pitch: IBR 5 deg, Standing Seam 3 deg (approx 1.5 deg mechanically-seamed on request). Panel lengths to 12 m on request, which lets most poultry-house roof planes be laid lap-free.
Insulating core — FRCel fire-retarded EPS, 50 / 75 / 100 / 120 / 150 mm — Core is the design variable: pick thickness for the brooding/heat-load target, not for a code minimum. PIR or Stone Wool core available on request (Stone Wool where a non-combustible core is wanted near heaters). ALL EPS is combustible (fire-retardant treated), never non-combustible.
Inner skin — coated steel, white underside — The panel underside IS the ceiling: no separate ceiling, no exposed fibre, no cavity for dust/vermin. Washable steel face suits wash-down and fumigation between cycles.
Support structure — purlins / portal frame at the spacing given by the LiteSpan load/span tables — Support spacing must come from the ITT-calibrated LiteSpan load/span design tables for the actual thickness, profile, end/mid span and wind load. Do NOT use the superseded 2024 brochure spans (2.5/3.0/3.5/4.0 m at 1.6 kN/m2) or the 2021 brochure spans (5.0-8.0 m).
Walls (option A) — LiteSpan / LiteCore sandwich wall panel above a masonry dwarf wall — Same laminated build-up as the roof; washable both sides. If the dwarf wall is double-skin (cavity) masonry or a plastered single leaf >= 140 mm, it is already deemed-to-satisfy under SANS 10400-XA and needs no added insulation — insulate it only if the bird-thermal model calls for it, not to satisfy the code.
Walls (option B, re-clad of an existing house) — separate continuous EPS layer on top-hat rails, then LiteClad steel weatherskin — LiteClad is BARE 0.5 mm PPGL/PPGI roll-formed steel — a weatherskin/finish, NOT a composite or insulated panel and not laminated to any core. The 0.5 mm steel adds negligible R; the EPS board behind it (thickness an independent design input) does the insulating. Profiles: IBR Wide 990, Corrugated 990, Standing Seam 282/495, ClipClad 270, DutchClad 293 (wall only).
Ancillary — panel doors, pipe lagging, and (egg/carcass chill store) cold-room panels — Personnel doors cut from the same laminated panel keep the envelope continuous. The chill store is a separate, colder problem: Stone Wool-cored cold-room panel.

Layers listed outside → inside.

Every number, its source

Performance data & provenance

Property	Value	Standard	Source report	Status
Core thermal conductivity, lambda (FRCel EPS core, 125 mm 990 IBR panel)	0.0352 W/m.K	SANS 54509 Initial Type Test	OTH-T-2309-04 (Omega Test House)	Verified
Panel U-value at 125 mm	0.252 W/m2K	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Installed R-value by panel thickness (50 / 75 / 100 / 120 / 150 mm)	1.6 / 2.3 / 3.0 / 3.6 / 4.4 m2K/W	derived from the ITT lambda	OTH-T-2309-04 (50 and 120 mm calculated; 75/100/150 brochure-confirmed)	Calculated
Core density (FRCel EPS)	21 kg/m3	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Panel mass at 125 mm	12.5 kg/m2	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Core compressive stress at 10% deformation	0.110 (110 kPa) MPa	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Core shear strength	0.077 MPa	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04 (the executive-summary figure of 0.77 is a misprint)	Verified
Core shear modulus	3.188 MPa	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Bending resistance M_u, mid-span (125 mm 990 IBR)	11.1 kN.m	SANS 54509 ITT	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Load / span capacity	per the ITT-calibrated LiteSpan load/span design tables (no single headline span; 2024 and 2021 brochure spans are superseded)	SANS 54509	OTH-T-2309-04	Verified
Reaction-to-fire class — LiteSpan panel (150 mm, Chromadek + EPS)	B-s1,d0 (Euroclass). Reaction-to-fire only — NOT a fire-resistance (minutes) rating	SANS 53501-1	IT 24-06-00029 (valid to approx 2029)	Verified
Reaction-to-fire class — FRCel EPS 20DV, 60 mm (the bulk insulation layer used behind LiteClad)	B-s1,d0 (Euroclass)	SANS 53501-1	IT 23-08-00009 (valid to approx 2028)	Verified
Fire-resistance — NuClad LiteCore LSF wall (the only current load-bearing FR claim in the range)	FR60 load-bearing (E/I/R 60) min	SANS 10177-2	FT 24-003 (valid to approx 2029)	Verified
Fire-resistance — plain EPS-core panel	None. Plain EPS-core panels carry NO fire-resistance (REI / minutes) rating; all EPS is combustible (fire-retardant treated)	SANS 10177-2	no passing EPS-core fire-resistance test exists on file	Verified
Fire-resistance — Stone Wool core panel (FR60 fixed / FR30 unfixed, non-load-bearing) and the FR120 double-studded firewall	Test on file, validity LAPSED — revalidation required before any current claim min	SANS 10177-2	FTC 20-011 / FTC 20-119 (lapsed)	Lapsed
LiteClad steel skin gauge (bare weatherskin, no bonded core)	0.5 mm		Technopol product data — no lambda/R/U is published for the bare cladding because its thermal contribution is negligible	Provisional
Bulk EPS insulation layer (behind LiteClad) — lambda at 10 degC by grade	0.033-0.045 W/m.K		Technopol grade data (12-30 kg/m3 range) — no in-validity test report for the full grade range	Provisional
EPS service temperature	approx 80 long-term / 100 short-term degC		Technopol bulk-insulation product data	Provisional
PolyCool / SuperCool retrofit ceiling board R-value (PolyCool 35/50/75/100 mm)	1.27 / 1.69 / 2.40 / 3.00 m2K/W	derived (no published lambda)	Technopol product data — no in-validity test report	Provisional
Cold-room (egg / carcass chill store) Stone Wool core lambda	max 0.035 W/m.K	TS EN 12667	supplier data — no in-validity SA test report on file	Provisional
Manufacturer quality system	ISO 9001:2015 certified (EQCSA, SANAS C22)	ISO 9001:2015	Reg no. Q 2016024, valid to 2028-06-02 (ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 lapsed March 2026)	Verified

What these labels mean is defined on our data promise; every source report is on the register.

On site

Installation

Set support (purlin) spacing from the ITT-calibrated LiteSpan load/span design tables for the actual profile, thickness, span condition and wind load — never from a brochure headline span.
Respect minimum pitch: 990 IBR 5 deg; 990 Standing Seam 3 deg (approx 1.5 deg only with mechanical seaming, on request). Long poultry-house roof planes usually justify ordering full-length panels (up to 12 m on request) to eliminate laps.
990 IBR — fix through the valley: 3 screws per support, 14x125 Class-4 sealed tek screws.
990 Standing Seam — one 1.2 mm GALVANISED clip at every support, 2 screws per clip. (An older 0.8 mm clip figure is in circulation; it is WRONG — the clip is 1.2 mm.)
IBR end laps: minimum 150 mm lap onto a flat bar giving at least 50 mm bearing. Alternatively butt the panels over a support and join with a 1.2 mm galvanised jointing plate.
Close every cut edge, eaves, gable, ridge and penetration with steel closures/flashings so no EPS face is exposed to UV, vermin or wild birds.
Keep panels clear of brooder flues, radiant tubes, direct-fired heaters and any hot surface — the core is fire-retarded EPS, with a service temperature of roughly 80 degC long-term / 100 degC short-term (PROVISIONAL, bulk-EPS product data). Detail flue penetrations with a non-combustible sleeve and specified clearance.
Use only EPS-compatible sealants, adhesives and coatings. Solvent-based (aromatic-solvent) products, tar/bitumen paints and some pesticide/disinfectant carriers dissolve EPS at cut edges.
Do not walk directly on panels between supports during installation or maintenance — use crawl boards spanning supports.
Where a LiteClad over-clad is used, the EPS insulation layer is installed FIRST as a continuous layer on top-hat rails; the LiteClad steel is the weatherskin over it. The steel contributes no meaningful R — do not count it.

The limits

Where not to use this

A material specified for the wrong job fails you, then us.

Directly against or immediately around brooder flues, direct-fired heater outlets, radiant tubes or any hot surface

All EPS is combustible (fire-retardant treated only), and the practical service temperature is roughly 80 degC long-term / 100 degC short-term (PROVISIONAL). B-s1,d0 is a reaction-to-fire class, not a heat-tolerance or fire-resistance rating.

→ Detail a clearance zone with a non-combustible sleeve/collar and, where the core must not burn, specify a Stone Wool core panel — but note its SANS 10177-2 fire-resistance test is LAPSED and cannot be quoted as a current rating until revalidated.

Where a rated fire separation in minutes is required — a firewall between houses, or a house-to-feed/fuel/generator store separation

Plain EPS-core sandwich panels carry NO fire-resistance (REI / minutes) rating. Reaction-to-fire B-s1,d0 does not substitute. The Stone Wool FR30/FR60 (FTC 20-011) and FR120 firewall (FTC 20-119) results are on file with validity lapsed — revalidation required.

→ Only the NuClad LiteCore LSF wall has a current load-bearing fire-resistance pass — FR60 (E/I/R 60), SANS 10177-2, report FT 24-003. Do not offer PIR: a 100 mm PIR 40 panel FAILED its SANS 10177-2 test and PIR carries no fire-resistance rating.

With solvent-based sealants, tar/bitumen paints, or disinfectants and pesticides whose carrier solvent is unverified

Aromatic and many organic solvents dissolve EPS on contact. There is NO chemical-resistance test data for poultry disinfectants on file — any claim of resistance would be invented.

→ Specify EPS-compatible sealants and adhesives from the adhesives range, and verify the carrier solvent of every disinfectant, biocide and coating before it touches a cut edge.

With EPS left exposed to UV, weather, rodents or wild birds

Exposed EPS yellows and becomes friable under UV, and is readily burrowed by rodents and wild birds — a direct biosecurity failure in a poultry house.

→ Close every cut edge, eaves, gable, ridge and penetration with steel closures or flashings; never leave a foam face reachable.

Carrying sustained load on the core — e.g. treating the 110 kPa compressive figure as a permanent working stress, or foot-traffic on panels between supports

The 0.110 MPa (110 kPa) compressive figure is the stress at 10% deformation — a short-term test value, not a working load. Sustained EPS loading is limited to roughly 1% strain to avoid creep.

→ Design to the long-term (creep-limited) stress, not the 10% short-term value, and use the geofoam design checker for any buried or load-bearing EPS.

Specifying LiteClad on its own and expecting it to insulate

LiteClad is bare 0.5 mm roll-formed steel with no bonded core. Its thermal contribution is negligible and no lambda/R/U is published for it. Specifying it as an insulated panel would leave the house uninsulated.

→ Use LiteSpan (an actual factory-laminated sandwich panel) where you want insulation and sheet in one element; if LiteClad is the chosen finish, insulate with a separate continuous EPS layer on top-hat rails behind it.

Below standing water, in an inverted/ballasted wet roof build-up, or buried below the water table in a wash-down yard

EPS takes up moisture over time in permanently wet service, and wet insulation loses R. There is no in-validity long-term water-absorption test for this range on file.

→ Where EPS must sit in a persistently wet or submerged position, run the design check first (geofoam design checker) and account for moisture uptake; otherwise keep the insulation on the dry side of the assembly and drain it.

Using SANS 10400-XA R-values as the design driver for the bird house, or insulating compliant masonry walls to 'meet XA'

A livestock house is not an XA-regulated occupancy, so there is no legal 3.7 m2K/W obligation on it — quoting one is a scope error that oversells the thickness. Conversely, selling wall insulation into a compliant masonry wall sells something the code does not require.

→ Design the roof R-value against the bird-thermal and ventilation-energy model. Apply the XA numbers to the office / staff accommodation, and do not add insulation to a cavity-masonry or >= 140 mm plastered wall, which is already deemed-to-satisfy.

Questions

Specifier FAQ

Does a broiler or layer house have to meet the SANS 10400-XA R 3.7 roof/ceiling minimum?

Not as a livestock shed. XA's deemed-to-satisfy R-values apply to XA-regulated occupancies — the farm office, staff accommodation, packhouse offices and similar. A bird house is an environmentally-controlled agricultural building, and its roof R-value is a bird-welfare and running-cost decision (heat gain, brooding energy, ventilation rate), not a code minimum. Where XA does bite on the site: under XA:2021 the total roof/ceiling R is 3.7 m2K/W in ALL zones (Zone 5H humid-coastal keeps 2.7 with roof ventilation). Run the free XA checker for those buildings, and size the bird house on thermal load.

Is LiteClad an insulated panel?

No — and this is the most common misunderstanding. LiteClad is bare 0.5 mm pre-painted roll-formed steel. It is the weatherskin laid OVER a separate continuous EPS insulation layer on top-hat rails or battens. It has no bonded core and must never be specified as a composite or insulated panel. The steel-faced EPS composite BOARD is a different product (NuClad). If you want insulation and sheet in one factory-laminated element, that is LiteSpan.

What span can I get out of a 100 mm LiteSpan panel?

Use the ITT-calibrated LiteSpan load/span design tables — enter thickness, profile, end-span vs internal span and your wind load. We deliberately do not publish a single headline span number: the old brochure figures (2.5/3.0/3.5/4.0 m at 1.6 kN/m2, and the older 5.0-8.0 m set) are SUPERSEDED and must not be used for design.

What is the fire rating of a LiteSpan poultry roof?

Reaction-to-fire class B-s1,d0 to SANS 53501-1 (Euroclass), from report IT 24-06-00029 on the 150 mm Chromadek/EPS panel — LiteSpan is the only insulated panel on South Africa's national reaction-to-fire register. That is a reaction-to-fire class, NOT a fire-resistance (minutes / REI) rating, and it does not make the panel non-combustible: all EPS is combustible, fire-retardant treated. If the design needs a rated firewall (e.g. between a house and a feed/fuel store), a plain EPS-core panel will not give you one.

Is the poultry roof covered by an Agrement certificate?

No. Agrement SA 2020/609 covers the LiteCore Building System ONLY, and only as a NON-LOAD-BEARING wall. There is no Agrement certificate for LiteSpan, LiteClad, Terraco, geofoam or any other product in the range, and a product certificate is never a company credential. The company-level credential that IS current is ISO 9001:2015 (valid to 2028-06-02); ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 lapsed in March 2026.

Can I insulate an existing house without re-roofing it?

Yes — PolyCool or SuperCool composite EPS ceiling board fixed below-truss / over-purlin gives insulation and a washable finished ceiling in one board. Be aware the PolyCool/SuperCool R-values are PROVISIONAL (derived, no published lambda and no in-validity test report), so if the number has to be defensible, use LiteSpan (ITT-backed lambda) or a bulk EPS layer instead. The other retrofit route is a separate EPS layer plus a LiteClad over-clad skin.

Will vermin or wild birds attack the EPS?

They will attack any EPS you leave exposed. Every cut edge, eaves, gable and ridge must be closed with steel closures/flashings so no foam face is reachable. Sandwich panels are largely self-protecting because both faces are steel; a loose bulk-EPS layer behind LiteClad is not, until the skin is closed.

Can I hose the panels down and fumigate between cycles?

The steel skins (and the uPVC/vinyl face on SuperCool/PolyCool) are washable, but two cautions: keep high-pressure jets out of open joints and cut edges, and check the carrier solvent of any disinfectant, tar/bitumen paint, sealant or adhesive against EPS — aromatic and many organic solvents dissolve EPS on contact. Use EPS-compatible sealants and adhesives only. No poultry-disinfectant chemical-resistance testing exists in our file, so treat it as a site check, not a published claim.

Agricultural & Poultry Housing

Performance targets

The assembly

The products that do this job

LiteSpan IBR & SS Roof Panels

LiteSpan Ceiling & Wall Panels

PolyCool & SuperCool

LiteClad Steel Profiles

Bulk Insulation Products

Cold Room Panels

Panel Doors

Pipe Lagging

Performance data & provenance

LiteSpan load/span design tables

Installation

Where not to use this

Project references

Our Shack

ModuPod 1.0 / 2.0

Greenhouse Construction – Swiss Project

Managers Unit (Finished Product)

5 Adam Close, Stratford

Rassie Erasmus

Specifier FAQ

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