Planning guide
Start with the runs.
Then count the bays.
This guide explains the arithmetic behind the shopping list. It helps you understand the estimate before comparing it with an actual product layout.
1. Keep each straight run on its own
Give each run a name and enter its desired length in metres. A run is one straight line in this model. If a fence changes direction, treat the new direction as a separate run for panel counting.
Panelplan assumes every run is isolated, with its own start and end post. If two lines meet at a shared post in your actual design, the sum can count that post twice. The calculator does not infer or deduct shared posts. Reconcile the result with your layout rather than treating the total as an installation schedule.
2. Decide what one bay represents
The effective bay width is the length attributed to one repeated panel bay in your chosen model. It might come from your product layout or a spacing calculation you have already made. It is not necessarily the clear width of the panel alone.
Panelplan multiplies this width by the number of bays. It does not add physical post widths, installation gaps or end details separately. If a product drawing specifies those details, work through that drawing to decide the appropriate input and check the finished length. The example width on the calculator is only an illustration.
3. Round every run to full panels
Panels for one run = desired run length ÷ effective bay width
Round any fraction upward to a whole panel.
Posts for one independent run = its panel count + 1
For an illustrative run of 7.3 m at 1.8 m per bay, the division gives about 4.056 bays. The estimator counts five full panels and six boundary posts. Five bays represent 9 m in the model, which is 1.7 m above the desired run length.
This does not mean the finished fence should extend 1.7 m. Your actual plan may use a cut panel, another available size or a different configuration. The calculator records a full-panel purchasing model; it does not design that adjustment or decide if a product can be cut.
Why adding lengths first can undercount panels
Consider two independent runs, each 2 m long, with a bay width of 1.8 m. Each run needs two full panels, so together they need four. Adding their lengths first gives 4 m; dividing that single combined line by 1.8 m would round to three panels. That would hide the separate rounding required by the two lines.
Under the isolated-run post assumption, those two runs need three posts each, for six posts. Whether your real layout shares a post is a separate decision outside this model.
4. Add spares separately
Your optional spare-panel quantity is added to the panel shopping total. It does not create extra bays or extra posts. The purchased-span total includes these panels, while the per-run span and surplus remain attached to the original runs.
A surplus span is a numerical difference. It does not identify the number or size of usable offcuts, and it does not guarantee that leftovers can serve another run.
5. Compare quoted costs honestly
The budget uses the panel shopping total, the isolated-run post total and a delivery amount. Enter final prices in Australian dollars. If a panel or post price is blank, the result is labelled a known-price subtotal and excludes the missing unit price.
Fixings, caps, finishes, foundations, tools, labour and other costs are outside the estimate. Gates are also outside the quantity model; this planner does not subtract their widths or add gate posts.
Check before ordering
- Confirm that the product's effective bay width matches the assumption you entered.
- Check every run length and each full-panel rounding result.
- Review any shared, reused, end, corner, gate or extra posts against the actual layout.
- Confirm how the product accommodates any difference between full-bay span and the desired length.
- Check your price basis, delivery and items excluded from the budget.