Stainless steel bollards and covers

What is it?

What are stainless steel bollards and bollard covers?

A stainless steel bollard is a post made from, or clad in, corrosion-resistant stainless steel, chosen mainly for appearance and low maintenance at building entrances and public spaces. A stainless bollard cover is a sleeve that slides over an existing or new steel core, changing its look without replacing the structural post. Grade 304 suits most inland sites, while 316 is preferred near the coast, pools or heavy de-icing salt.

Stainless steel is the finish people associate with office entrances, hotel forecourts, retail parks and civic squares. It does not need painting, it suits glass and metal facades, and it can be brushed or polished to match ironmongery and signage. It is also the usual way to make a security bollard look like street furniture, by sleeving a steel or crash-tested core.

Getting stainless right is mostly about grade, surface finish and fixing. Poorly chosen stainless develops brown tea staining within a season, and covers fitted carelessly rattle or trap water. Our installation crews, working under our management, fit solid stainless posts and sleeve covers over new or existing cores, including covers supplied by manufacturers for their rated products.

Where stainless steel bollards make sense

• Office, hotel and hospital entrances
• Retail parks and shopping centre frontages
• Civic squares and pedestrianised plazas
• Sleeving existing painted steel posts that have become tatty
• Disguising crash-rated cores as ordinary street furniture
• Coastal and poolside sites where paint finishes fail
• Matching stainless canopies, handrails and signage

How it works

Solid stainless bollards are fabricated from stainless tube, either fixed into the ground with a stainless or galvanised root, bolted down on a plate, or set in a socket so they can be removed. Because stainless tube is usually thinner-walled than structural steel, solid stainless posts are often filled with concrete or fitted over a steel insert for strength.

Covers work the other way round. The structural job is done by a steel core, which may be a plain galvanised post or a crash-tested bollard, and a stainless sleeve is slid over it and fixed with concealed grub screws or a capping arrangement. The cover adds no strength. On rated bollards, covers should come from the manufacturer or be approved by them, because a cover that changes how the post deforms could affect the tested performance.

The grade decides how the steel copes with its surroundings. 304 performs well inland in normal urban air. 316 contains molybdenum and resists chlorides from sea spray, swimming pools and road salt much better. Surface finish matters too: a smooth polished or fine-brushed surface sheds dirt and resists staining better than a coarse finish.

Options and finishes

Typical specification

How we install it

Ground, foundations and buried services

For solid stainless posts the foundation work is the same as for steel: dig to depth, check for services, set in concrete and reinstate. The difference is in handling. Stainless can be stained by iron particles from cutting discs, drills and steel tools used nearby, and those particles rust on the surface within days. Paving around new posts is cut before the posts arrive, or the posts are protected while it happens. Where covers go over existing posts, there is usually no excavation at all, but the base of the old post often sits in broken surfacing that is worth making good at the same time so the cover finishes neatly against a clean edge.

Rules and checks before you order

• Add a contrasting band near the top, because bare stainless can blend into pale paving for partially sighted people.
• Keep clear gaps of typically at least 1,000–1,200 mm on pedestrian routes, in line with Inclusive Mobility guidance.
• On crash-rated bollards, confirm with the manufacturer that the cover is approved for the tested product.
• Check with the local planning authority before installing in conservation areas or beside listed buildings, where stainless may not be considered appropriate.

See rules and standards by nation for highway consent, accessibility and security standards.

Maintenance

Stainless steel is low maintenance, not no maintenance. Wash it periodically with water and a mild detergent, more often near the coast or busy roads, and rinse off road salt after winter. Light tea staining can be removed with a stainless cleaner and a non-scratch pad, working with the grain of a brushed finish. Avoid wire wool and steel brushes, which leave particles that rust. Check covers for loose fixings and rattles, and look at the base for trapped water or rust from an old core underneath.

What affects the price

• Grade 304 or 316 and the surface finish
• Solid posts or covers over existing cores
• Diameter and height, and any custom heads or engraving
• Condition of existing cores and any re-bedding needed
• Manufacturer-approved covers for rated bollards
• Surface reinstatement and protection of the finish during works