Paving screed for a road finisher

A paving screed to be employed on a road finisher, the paving screed comprising:

• a base screed, an operating width of which may be modified by protractable extending units and/or separate removable bolt-on extensions;
• a plurality of side plates each being mountable on an outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension and which delimit the operating width;
• and
• at least one reference element for determining the operating width provided on at least one of the side plates, such that the at least one reference element is positionable on a lateral portion of the paving screed, the at least one reference element being detectable by one or more sensor units when the side plates are each mounted on the outer end of at least one of the base screed, an extending unit or a bolt-on extension.