Test stands to study the response and timing properties of plastic scintillator bars read out with SiPMs, and to investigate the potential for gamma-neutron separation of different plastic scintillator materials have been constructed and commissioned. The design of a detector based on plastic scintillator tiles was completed. The detector module is composed by a 3x5 matrix of 225 cm2 tiles. The light readout of each tile is achieved by 4 Silicon Photomultipliers directly coupled to the scintillator. A dedicated fast front end electronics is integrated onto the tile. The detector module can be used as a standalone unit or can be replicated in order to cover large areas. The performance of the scintillator tiles has been verified. A time resolution of 300 ps, light yield of 230 photo-electrons for a MIP and an efficiency better than 99.8% were achieved.