Farkesht technical dossier
Designing, building and maintaining a football pitch
A pitch is not a green carpet. It is a nine-layer system engineered from the compacted subgrade up to the tip of the fibre — and this dossier opens it layer by layer.
- Pile height
- 60mm
- Engineered system
- 9layers
- Service life with care
- 10years
Updated August 20, 2026Farin Kesht Taban Co.
How a pitch is judged
A good pitch is one that passes the test
Turf quality cannot be judged by eye. The FIFA Quality Programme measures how the surface behaves, and every test has an accepted window — a pitch is either inside it or it is not.
FIFA Quality
Club football and heavy training use
The test windows are wider, with the emphasis on durability and safety at high hours of use. The usual choice for training grounds and club pitches.
FIFA Quality Pro
Professional and top-flight matches
Narrower windows and stricter testing: ball and player behaviour has to come close to a first-class natural surface.
Ball roll
4–10 m
012 m
How far a ball released from the standard ramp travels. Shorter means a slow pitch; longer means a ball nobody can settle.
Vertical ball rebound
0.6–1 m
01.4 m
Bounce height from a two-metre drop. Outside the window, the ball stops behaving predictably off the surface.
Shock absorption
55–70 %
0100 %
The share of impact force the surface takes. Below the window, that load goes straight into knees and ankles.
Vertical deformation
4–11 mm
015 mm
How far the surface gives under load. Too soft and players sink into the pitch instead of pushing off it.
Rotational resistance
25–50 N·m
060 N·m
The torque needed to turn a boot on the surface. Too high and the ligament injury risk rises with it.
Water infiltration
180–500 mm/h
0600 mm/h
How fast water clears the whole system. A compliant pitch should be playable straight after rainfall.
The figures here are the customary windows of the FIFA Quality Programme. Every project is signed off against the handbook edition current at the time of testing.
System cross-section
Nine layers, from compacted subgrade to fibre tip
Each layer has one job, and dropping one simply moves its load onto the next. The order this drawing builds itself in is the order it is built on site.
Rubber granules8–12 kg/m²
SBR, EPDM or TPE. Holds the fibres upright and provides part of the shock absorption.
Silica sand15–20 kg/m²
Washed, rounded grading. Supplies the weight and the dimensional stability of the carpet.
Fibres (pile)50–60 mm
UV-stabilised polyethylene. Pile height sets both ball behaviour and infill depth.
Backing and coating1–2 mm
The primary weave and the coat that locks the stitches in and lets water through the drainage perforations.
Shock pad10–25 mm
Prefabricated panel or in-situ elastic layer — what keeps shock absorption in range for the life of the pitch.
Binder / finishing layer3–5 cm
The smooth, wave-free bed the carpet is laid on. Surface flatness tolerance is decided here.
Mechanical base10–15 cm
Compacted crushed aggregate that spreads load and keeps settlement under control.
Drainage network15–25 cm
Perforated pipes in a gravel bed on a controlled fall, keeping the pitch playable after rain.
Compacted subgrade20–30 cm
Controlled compaction to the design density. Any weakness here shows up years later as settlement.
The shock pad is the layer clients are most tempted to cut. Removing it saves on day one and pushes shock absorption to the edge of the accepted window from the first season.
Design envelope
Everything is settled on paper before the first dig
Dimensions, falls, drainage, lighting and carpet specification are locked at design stage. Changing any of them after construction means going back to the excavation.
Safety run-off
3–5 m
Clear distance at the touchlines and behind the goals to the first fixed obstacle.
Surface fall
0.3–0.8 %
Single fall or crown, moving run-off water to the perimeter channels.
Illuminance
200–500 lux
Set by the level of play. Uniformity matters as much as the raw lux figure.
Yarn linear density
12,000–16,000 dtex
Higher dtex means a thicker fibre and better resistance to laying flat.
Stitch density
8,500–10,500 stitches/m²
Stitches per square metre. Denser tufting gives a more even surface and a longer life.
UV warranty
8–10 years
Colour retention and fibre strength under sunlight, per the manufacturer's test certificate.
The fibre cross-section makes the pitch behave
Three families of yarn with three different behaviours. Choosing between them comes down to the level of play and the hours the pitch will take.
Monofilament with spine
A single filament with a stiffening rib down the middle. It stands back up quickly after every tackle and keeps the closest look to natural grass.
- Professional matches
- High resilience
- Needs regular care
V-shaped monofilament
Stiffness comes from the folded geometry rather than a spine — a solid balance of durability and cost for pitches that never get a day off.
- High-traffic pitches
- Durable
- Balanced cost
Fibrillated (net)
A slit tape that opens into a net once brushed out, locking the infill in place. The economical option for training pitches.
- Training pitches
- Locks infill in
- Economical
Build sequence
From site visit to handover: eight stages, each with a hold point
Every stage has one deliverable and one acceptance check. Until the check is met, the next stage does not start.
- 01
Site visit and ground investigation
Topographic survey, soil testing and a look at where the water actually goes. What comes out of this stage sets the excavation depth.
Geotechnical report and existing-conditions drawing
- 02
Design and construction drawings
Dimensions, run-off, falls, drain layout and carpet specification fixed into one drawing and quantities package.
Client sign-off on the construction drawings
- 03
Excavation, grading and compaction
Topsoil stripped, levels graded to design and the formation compacted in layers with moisture control.
Compaction test at the design density
- 04
Drainage installation
Trenching, gravel bedding, perforated pipe laid to a controlled fall and tied into the perimeter channel.
Flow test and longitudinal fall check
- 05
Base and finishing layers
Mechanical base and graded finishing layer placed and screeded to the specified flatness tolerance.
Flatness checked with a three-metre straightedge
- 06
Shock pad installation
Panels laid out or the elastic layer cast in place, with every joint closed across the full area.
Continuous surface at uniform thickness
- 07
Carpet laying and seaming
Rolls set out in a single direction, left to relax, then seamed or bonded onto the joining tape.
Invisible seams with no step in level
- 08
Line marking, infill and handover
Lines cut and inlaid, sand and granules spread in layers with brushing between each, then the handover tests.
Test certificate and maintenance team training
Maintenance cycle
Maintenance decides the life of the pitch, not the carpet
The best carpet in the world loses its behaviour by year three without a maintenance programme. The cycle below is what the operating team receives along with the pitch.
Surface brushing
Weekly
- Clear litter and leaves
- Brush against the lay of the fibres
- Visual check of lines and seams
Deep grooming
Monthly
- Groom to redistribute the granules
- Check free pile height
- Relieve local compaction in the goalmouths
Decompaction and washing
Quarterly
- Mechanical decompaction of the infill
- Wash down and remove dust
- Sanitise the surface in the busy season
Inspection and repair
Annually
- Top up granules to design level
- Inspect seams, lines and drainage
- Shock absorption test with trend logging
Why maintenance cannot wait
Infill compacts over time and the surface hardens with it. The gap between these two curves is the gap between having a maintenance programme and not having one.
- With a maintenance programme
- Without maintenance
Schematic, drawn to show the trend rather than measured data from a specific pitch. The orange line is the customary safety ceiling; crossing it means the pitch needs major refurbishment.
Farkesht track record
Who builds the pitch
Farkesht is a knowledge-based company in agricultural and landscape engineering services: ground investigation, design, construction, handover testing and the maintenance contract, all in one team.
The figures in this section are placeholders and must be replaced with the real track record before launch.
- 24
- projects delivered
- 180,000
- square metres built
- 7
- years on site
- 11
- provinces covered
How we got here
- 2,019
Company founded
Started out in agricultural and landscape engineering services.
- 2,021
First full pitch
Base, drainage and carpet delivered end to end on an eleven-a-side pitch.
- 2,022
Quality control unit
Field handover testing set up, with a technical record issued per pitch.
- 2,024
Maintenance division
A dedicated team and machinery fleet for scheduled pitch maintenance.
- 2,026
Wider reach
Expansion into new provinces and regional markets.
Reference projects
- 2,022
Sample project 1
Base, drainage and carpet installation
7,800 m²
- 2,023
Sample project 2
Surface refurbishment and infill replacement
5,400 m²
- 2,024
Sample project 3
Design, construction and floodlighting
11,200 m²
- 2,025
Sample project 4
Shock pad installation and maintenance contract
6,600 m²
What we can take on
Design and investigation
Site survey, falls and drainage design, quantities, estimates and construction drawings.
Full construction
Excavation through to line marking, with our own crew, plant and a single point of contract.
Testing and handover
Field tests of surface behaviour and a technical record handed over with the report.
Scheduled maintenance
Annual contract covering brushing, grooming, decompaction, infill top-up and inspection.
Frequently asked
What clients ask before ordering a pitch
Short answers to the questions that come up in almost every first meeting.
How long does a synthetic pitch last?
With a decent carpet and a regular maintenance programme, expect eight to ten years of sporting use. Without maintenance the same carpet can fall out of the test windows by year four or five.
What drives the cost of a project?
More than half the cost is usually in the base and drainage, not the carpet. The four main variables are the condition of the existing ground, excavation depth, the extent of drainage, and whether a shock pad and higher-specification fibre are included.
Is the pitch playable after rain?
If the falls and drainage network are built correctly, yes. The infiltration rate of the whole system has to be high enough to clear surface water immediately, and that figure is measured and recorded at handover.
What is the difference between SBR, EPDM and TPE granules?
SBR is the most economical, EPDM holds colour and copes with heat better, and TPE is recyclable and odourless. The choice comes down to budget, climate and how much weight the client puts on environmental considerations.
Natural grass or synthetic?
The deciding factor is hours of use. Natural grass makes sense below roughly twenty hours of play a week; above that, natural recovery cannot keep up and synthetic turf wins on lifecycle cost.
What does the warranty cover?
The carpet warranty comes from the manufacturer and normally covers colour retention and fibre strength under UV. The installation warranty is separate and covers the base, seams and line marking — and it depends on the maintenance programme being followed.
Got a pitch in mind? Let's start at the subgrade
One site visit and a preliminary study is the difference between a ten-year pitch and a three-year one.