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Quality & sustainability

Dimensional tolerance

Dimensional tolerance is the permitted deviation from a specified size, such as how much a wall panel may differ from its drawn length, height or squareness.

Also known as tolerance, dimensional accuracy, manufacturing tolerance, squareness, accuracy

No production is perfectly exact, so the design states how much variation is acceptable: for example plus or minus a few millimetres on length and a maximum difference between the diagonals. Components that stay within tolerance fit together without adjustment.

Tolerances matter more in prefabrication than on site. Elements are made in one place and assembled in another, with no chance to trim them to fit, so errors show up as gaps, misaligned openings and extra work during erection.

Related terms
NoggingA nogging is a short horizontal piece of timber fixed between studs or joists to stiffen the frame and give a fixing point for boards and fittings. Framing stationA framing station is the machine that assembles studs, plates and noggins into a wall frame and nails them together. Wall panelA wall panel is a prefabricated section of wall: a timber or steel frame, often already fitted with sheathing, insulation, windows and services. It is built in a factory and assembled on site.
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