750mm Triangle Sign Faces

Reading the diagram number

Every regulated sign face carries a diagram number from the Traffic Signs Regulations. It is the quickest way to order the right face without relying on a description, because two signs can be described the same way and mean different things. The warning triangles stocked at 750mm are:

• 7001 - men at work. The most common temporary warning on UK roads.
• 516 - road narrows on both sides. Used where the obstruction takes width from both kerbs roughly equally, and normally paired with a single file traffic plate.
• 517 - road narrows on one side. The correct choice when one kerb line is obstructed and the other is not, and it comes in left and right variants.
• 521 - two way traffic. For where a one-way flow reverts to two directions.
• 543 - traffic signals ahead. Goes out with portable signals.
• 554.2 - ice. A winter maintenance sign.
• 557 - slippery road surface.
• 562 - the open warning triangle, used with a plate to describe a hazard no standard sign covers.
• 584 - queues likely ahead.

Order by number where you can. It removes the guesswork over left and right variants, which is where most wrong deliveries come from.

Why metal rather than plastic

These faces are pressed from zintec and plated steel. That makes them heavier and more expensive than a moulded plastic sign, and it buys two things: the face stays flat in wind rather than flexing, and it survives being stacked, dropped and dragged across a compound yard for years rather than seasons.

They are the right choice for long-duration schemes, for a hire fleet that has to look presentable on its tenth outing, and for anywhere a sign stands unattended in exposed conditions. For short jobs where signs are set out and lifted daily, a lighter self-standing plastic sign is usually the better tool.

Retroreflectivity

The faces carry a Class 1 RA1 retroreflective surface. Retroreflective material sends light back towards its source, which is why a sign reads brightly in headlights while the verge beside it stays dark. RA1 is the base grade used for temporary works signing.

Reflectivity is what fails first on a sign that still looks serviceable. A face that has been scuffed, over-cleaned or left under a stack for a winter can be perfectly legible by day and close to invisible at night, so inspect faces in the dark with a torch rather than in the yard at noon.

Face only, or face and frame

Most faces here are sold on their own or with a frame. Buy the frame once and the face as often as the job changes. The matching 750mm triangle frame is stocked alongside, and a face swap takes minutes with the frame clips.

For the self-standing plastic equivalents on a folding A-frame, see the 750mm triangular Q-signs.