Most carpentry quotes in Singapore still list E2 board as the standard option. Ours never does — not because we're upselling you, but because E2 isn't part of the current formaldehyde grading system at all. It's not the bottom of the pyramid. It's outside it.

The pyramid, as it actually stands today

Since October 2021, China's national standard GB/T 39600-2021 has governed formaldehyde emission grading for the wood-based panels used in nearly all Singapore carpentry — carcass boards, MDF, particleboard, the works. That standard set up a three-tier pyramid, and only three tiers:

  • E1 — the base tier, ≤ 0.124 mg/m³
  • E0 — the middle tier, ≤ 0.050 mg/m³, introduced for the first time as an officially recognised grade
  • ENF — the peak, ≤ 0.025 mg/m³, roughly half the E0 limit and a fifth of E1

That's the whole pyramid. Three levels, one standard, one test method. There's no fourth tier underneath E1.

So where did E2 go?

Before 2021, the only two grades that officially existed in China's system were E1 and E2. E0 wasn't even recognised yet — some manufacturers marketed boards as "E0" anyway, with no standard behind the claim. When GB/T 39600-2021 came into force, it replaced that older framework entirely. E0 was formally introduced. E2 was removed.

That's not a rebrand or a renaming. E2 was retired as a grade. A board sold as "E2" today isn't sitting at the bottom of a four-tier system — it's being sold against a standard that no longer exists in the current framework.

Why does everyone still quote it, then?

Mostly inertia, not deception. E2 was the market default for years before 2021, and a lot of supply chains — and a lot of quotes — never updated. Boards sold as E2 today are typically older stock, boards from suppliers who haven't moved their catalogue onto the current standard, or boards that simply weren't tested against GB/T 39600-2021 at all and default to the old label out of habit.

None of that makes them dangerous on its own — but it does mean there's no current, internationally recognised test result behind the number on the quote. You're taking the label on faith rather than a chamber-tested certificate.

What we use instead

Every carcass board at Perimeter Studio is ENF-grade — SGS-tested, sitting at the top of the actual current pyramid, not the top of an outdated one. It's standard on every project, not a paid upgrade you have to ask for.

If a quote you've received elsewhere lists E2, it's worth asking the contractor directly which standard that's tested against. If they can't point you to a current SGS or equivalent chamber-test certificate, you're not comparing grades — you're comparing a real one to one that isn't being tested at all anymore.

Curious how ENF compares to E1 in practice? Read our ENF vs E1 breakdown, or check our FAQ for more on how we build.

To get board grade written into your quotation line by line, talk to us — +65 8124 0909.