We supply and install solid surface worktops for dental decontamination rooms across England.
Our worktops are fabricated to meet the surface requirements of HTM 01-05, with correct dirty-zone and clean-zone configurations, integrated sinks, coved upstands and sealed joints throughout.
We work with all leading solid surface materials — including Corian, LG Hi-Macs, Staron, Hanex and Tristone. For most decontamination room projects we recommend LG Hi-Macs: it meets the same clinical performance and certification standards as the other leading brands and typically offers better value.
If you have been given a specific material requirement or have a brand preference, we can work to that.
If you are fitting out a new decontamination room or replacing existing surfaces, we survey, template and install — supply and fit from a single specialist.
Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 sets out the decontamination standards that dental practices in England are expected to meet. For worktops and bench surfaces, the requirements are clear: all surfaces in decontamination areas must be impervious, smooth and easily cleanable. Where joints are unavoidable, they must be welded or sealed. Right-angle wall-to-worktop junctions — which trap contamination and are difficult to clean — should be eliminated.
The guidance also requires a physically defined dirty-to-clean workflow. In practice, this means the worktop layout must support a one-way process: contaminated instruments arrive, are cleaned and disinfected, move through to the clean zone for inspection, sterilisation and packing, and leave the room as sterile instruments. The surfaces themselves must not obstruct that workflow or create points where cross-contamination can occur.
All leading solid surface materials — including Corian, LG Hi-Macs, Staron, Hanex and Tristone — carry NSF certification, confirming independent third-party verification of their hygienic performance. All meet the surface performance requirements of HTM 01-05, CQC and GDC standards.
If your practice has been given a specification that names a particular brand, we can supply it. If you have no brand preference, we will recommend the option that gives you the best combination of performance and value for your project.
A HTM 01-05-compliant decontamination room requires clearly separated dirty and clean bench areas. The worktop configuration needs to reflect that separation, not work against it.
The dirty zone receives contaminated instruments and houses the washing and rinsing sinks, and the washer-disinfector where one is installed. This benching needs to be robust, fully impervious and able to withstand repeated contact with clinical disinfectants and detergents, including sodium hypochlorite and isopropanol.
The clean zone is where instruments are inspected, sterilised and packed. Benching here requires good task lighting, a clean and uncluttered surface, and the same impervious, easy-wipe characteristics as the dirty zone — but kept rigorously separate from it.
In both zones, the worktop should run as a single continuous sealed surface where possible. Sinks should be integrated with no rim gap. The wall junction should be formed as a hygienic cove, not a right angle. These are not optional enhancements — they are what the guidance requires and what an inspection will look for.
Solid surface – acrylic solid surface in particular – has become the standard material for dental decontamination room worktops because it meets every surface requirement HTM 01-05 sets out.
Solid surface is non-porous throughout. Unlike laminate, which has a surface layer bonded to a substrate, solid surface is the same material all the way through. There is no core to expose and no edge to delaminate. It does not absorb moisture, bacteria or disinfectants at the surface, at a join or at an edge.
Fabricated correctly, solid surface worktops present as a single continuous surface. Joins are heat-welded and finished flush — not sealed with silicone and not covered with a strip. Sinks are bonded directly to the underside of the worktop with no rim gap. Coved upstands are formed from the same sheet material, eliminating the wall junction entirely.
The material is also chemically resistant, withstanding repeated contact with the disinfectants and cleaning agents used in dental decontamination without surface degradation. And if the surface is ever damaged – a scratch, an impact mark – it can be sanded and restored on site without replacement.
For most decontamination room projects we recommend LG Hi-Macs, which delivers all of these characteristics at strong value. Where a project calls for a different brand, we can supply Corian, Staron, Hanex or Tristone to the same fabrication standard.
We fabricate and install solid surface worktops for decontamination rooms in any configuration – single-room layouts, two-room dirty-and-clean setups, and decontamination areas within existing surgery rooms where a dedicated room is not yet in place.
We supply worktops in a wide range of colours across all brands we work with. Samples are available free of charge on request.
Send us your quote & plan and we’ll try our best to beat it. We offer a range of work surfaces from HIMACS, Staron, Hanex, Tristone as well as Corian, so your quote can be tailored to your budget.
A: HTM 01-05 does not specify a particular brand or product, but it specifies the performance characteristics the surface must meet: non-porous, smooth, easy to clean and compatible with clinical disinfectants.
Acrylic solid surface materials — including LG Hi-Macs, Corian, Staron, Hanex and Tristone — meet all of these requirements, which is why solid surface has become the standard material for dental decontamination room worktops.
We can supply and install any of these brands.
A: HTM 01-05 requires the decontamination room to be divided into a dirty zone (where used instruments are received and cleaned) and a clean zone (where instruments are inspected, packaged and sterilised).
The workflow must run in one direction — from dirty to clean — to prevent cross-contamination. The worktops for each zone must be clearly separated and ideally distinguished in layout or colour.
We fabricate decontamination room worktops to the correct zone specifications.
A: HTM 01-05 specifies minimum worktop depths in the decontamination room to ensure adequate working space for the required equipment.
The standard minimum depth for decontamination worktops is 600mm, though this can vary depending on the equipment configuration.
We assess the equipment layout during the site survey and fabricate to the correct dimensions.
A: Yes. The dirty zone in a decontamination room requires a sink for instrument washing.
The sink must be integrated flush into the worktop with no rim gap — a rimmed inset sink creates a contamination trap that cannot be adequately cleaned.
We bond solid surface sinks directly to the underside of the worktop so the surface runs continuous into the basin.
A: Both require the same non-porous, seamlessly fabricated solid surface material.
The key difference is specification: decontamination room worktops are subject to more detailed dimensional and layout requirements under HTM 01-05, including zone separation, minimum depths, and a strict dirty-to-clean workflow.
Decontamination rooms also typically require more linear worktop run and a different arrangement around sterilisation equipment.
A: We can supply decontamination room worktops in any NSF-certified solid surface – including Corian, LG Hi-Macs, Staron, Hanex and Tristone
All meet the surface performance requirements of HTM 01-05.
Our preferred recommendation is LG Hi-Macs: it offers comparable quality and longevity to Corian – which is the most commonly specified brand in dental decontamination rooms – at a more competitive price.
For most practices, Hi-Macs represents the best combination of clinical performance and value for money.