At the Solid Wood Flooring Company, we acknowledge client requirements often include a need for certified slip resistant flooring across a number of use cases.
Wood flooring can present a slippier surface than concrete, rubber or carpet but is often the only practical choice for domestic and commercial flooring where dust retention, or smooth surfaces are needed. Proper slip resistance certification can and should form a part of any serious wood flooring planning specification.
In the UK the Solid Wood Flooring Company puts its flooring through rigorous testing with the Pendulum CoF test (also known as the portable skid resistance tester, the British pendulum, and the TRRL pendulum).
Included in British Standard, BS 7976: Parts1-3, 2002.2 the Pendulum method uses a swinging, imitation heel (using a standardised rubber soling sample), which sweeps over a set area of flooring in a controlled manner across three different directions.
The slipperiness of the flooring in any given direction has a direct and measurable effect on the pendulum test value (PTV) given.
Rigorous research has confirmed the pendulum method to be a reliable and accurate test, so the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has adopted it as its standard test method for assessing floor slipperiness in both dry and contaminated conditions. For profiled floors, several tests in different directions may be required to obtain a good understanding of performance.
Despite no law being in place to specify the exact slip resistance requirements of flooring, the Solid Wood Flooring Company in conjunction with Ryder International has ensured that the new Impervia® Luxury flooring range has been subjected to this best practice testing methodology to provide our customers with extra confidence.
To undertake the testing in controlled conditions the Solid Wood Flooring Company commissioned the independent research and testing organisation, SATRA Technology to run tests
The Impervia® range delivered a score 69 on the PTV scale in dry conditions and 40 when wet. To put this in perspective, a score of 36 and above is considered to present a low slip potential on the scale.
Further tests were conducted on our range of solid wood UV oiled finished floors. These scored 60 on the PTV scale in dry conditions and 45 PTV when tested in the wet.
At the Solid Wood Flooring Company we take product specification and testing seriously so that we can be confident that our products are of a high quality, durability and adhere to safety criteria as set out by the HSE. Whether specifying for a building project, interior design brief, or a domestic installation you can be sure that our solid wood and PVC flooring products will be compliant.
To order some free, no obligation samples of any of our flooring range please click through to our web site. If you would like more technical and safety information, please see our helpful links section below.
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