Plastic Bird Spikes Specifications: What to Put in Your RFQ

A specification for plastic bird spikess is only useful if it is unambiguous to someone who cannot see your project. Most disputes on this product do not come from bad manufacturing — they come from a drawing that could reasonably be read two ways, where the supplier read it the cheap way and the buyer read it the expensive way.

This is a practical specification checklist, written around what the standards actually require.

The three specification families you will meet

Suppliers will quote against whichever family your market uses, and the part can usually be built to any of them:

• ISO 4892-3 — fluorescent UV ageing of the polymer.
• ASTM D638 — tensile test of the base polymer.
• ISO 75 — heat deflection temperature of the base.

The mistake is to specify a standard reference without specifying the class or grade within it. If you write only the standard number, the supplier will quote the lowest class that satisfies it. Write the standard and the level you want.

Dimensional data that has to be on the drawing

For this product the critical dimensions are: strip length 500 mm; pin height 110–150 mm; two or three rows of pins; base width 20–28 mm.

Three rules that prevent most dimensional disputes:

1. Give tolerances on every functional dimension, not just the nominal values. A nominal dimension with no tolerance is legally “as the supplier chooses”.
2. Say which dimensions are functional and which are cosmetic. Suppliers prioritise what you prioritise, and they cannot guess.
3. State the gauge or measuring method where a dimension is critical. Two inspectors with different methods will disagree about the same part.

Material and grade

The base specification is one-piece moulded polycarbonate base and pins, UV-stabilised. Grades commonly offered include:

• virgin PC with UV package (standard)
• economy PC (indoor / sheltered use)
• crystal clear base
• grey base for stone façades

Ask the supplier to state the grade on the quotation, not on an assumption. Grade substitution is the single most common silent cost reduction, and it is usually invisible in the finished part — a 201 stainless component looks exactly like a 304 one until the second winter.

Surface treatment

The usual finish for this product is moulded colour throughout — no painting; clear and grey are the two standard colours.

Two points worth writing into the order:

• A measured requirement, not a process name. “Hot-dip galvanised” is a process; “70 µm minimum, tested by coating mass on three parts per batch” is a requirement.
• What happens at cut edges and drilled holes, if any. These are where coatings are habitually broken and where corrosion starts.

Type tests and routine tests

These are different things and are frequently confused in quotations:

• Type tests qualify the design once. On this product: pin pull-off ≥ 30 N; UV ageing 2000 h with colour-retention check; impact test at −20 °C (no brittle fracture).
• Routine tests are run on every batch: pin tip roundness check (blunted tips, no sharp points).

Specify which type-test reports you want supplied as documents, and which routine test results must accompany each shipment. On a first order, ask for the type-test report before you place it.

The failure modes your specification should be closing

• Pins snapping in cold weather — PC replaced with acrylic or recycled resin to cut cost — stays clear but goes brittle below about −10 °C
• Base warping on hot roofs — heat deflection temperature too low; dark grey bases on black membrane roofs see surface temperatures above 70 °C
• Pins splaying open — wall thickness at the pin root too thin; the spread starts within weeks on windy exposures

Each of these can be turned into one line in the specification. That is the real purpose of writing it out: not bureaucracy, but making the specific failure you are worried about somebody’s explicit responsibility.

A specification skeleton you can reuse

1. Scope: Plastic Bird Spikes to be supplied as plastic bird spikes, polycarbonate bird spikes, PC bird spikes, all-plastic pigeon spikes.
2. Dimensions and tolerances: strip length 500 mm; pin height 110–150 mm; two or three rows of pins; base width 20–28 mm.
3. Material: one-piece moulded polycarbonate base and pins, UV-stabilised; grade virgin PC with UV package (standard) or better.
4. Standard: ISO 4892-3 — fluorescent UV ageing of the polymer; ASTM D638 — tensile test of the base polymer; ISO 75 — heat deflection temperature of the base.
5. Finish: moulded colour throughout — no painting; clear and grey are the two standard colours.
6. Tests: pin pull-off ≥ 30 N; UV ageing 2000 h with colour-retention check; impact test at −20 °C (no brittle fracture); pin tip roundness check (blunted tips, no sharp points).
7. Marking and packing: nested 100 strips per carton with paper interleaving to prevent scuffing of clear bases.
8. Inspection: pre-shipment, against this specification, with photo evidence and test records.

Related: the plastic bird spikes quality inspection checklist turns this specification into an inspection plan you can hand to a third-party inspector.