Standard plywood is classified according to the grades of its face veneers that comply with Russian Standards for export based on Standard EN 635.
NOTE: Surface grades do not have any significant effect on the structural performance of a plywood sheet.
- Grade “B”: Selected one-piece face generally light and even in colour. Occasional small pin knots and some brown streaks may be allowed. Intended for natural finish. No patches allowed. The majority of Grade B veneers are the equivalent of American one-piece select white birch faces.
- Grade “BB”: One-piece face is generally light and even in colour. Occasional sound tight knots are permitted but open knots and defects in BB have been cut out and replaced with small ovular or round veneer patches before gluing. The veneer selected for the patches is of the same general colour as the basic face veneer. Generally there are very few patches per face and many users purchase this grade for cut up for natural finish.
- Grade “CP”: One-piece face and very close to Grade BB in quality. Occasional hairline splits are allowed in Grade CP. The ovular or round patches may or may not be matched for colour with the base face veneer. There may be more patches per face than in Grade BB.
- Grade “C”: One-piece utility grade veneer available both sanded and un-sanded faces. Open defects and open splits are allowed. Recommended for container, crating, dust panels and usages where construction and strength are important factors and appearance is not important.