Choose the floor by the hazard
A commercial floor is not a better domestic floor. A commercial floor is chosen to handle a specific hazard in a specific room. A shop entrance, a commercial kitchen, a server room and a warehouse each need something different.
Who decides
Altro's guide states that designers, specifiers and end users are responsible for ensuring a floor is fit for purpose. If you run the building, you should write the hazard down before you ask for a quote.
What to write down
Note whether the room is wet, greasy, dry, static-sensitive or subject to wheeled loads, and note who walks on it, in what footwear. A contractor can only match a product to that list.
Types of commercial floor and where each is used
The table below follows one manufacturer's guide, Altro, dated September 2026. The table lists that manufacturer's product types, not the whole market, and the values are the manufacturer's own.
| Type | Slip values given | Typical applications |
|---|---|---|
| General purpose safety floor | PTV 36, R10 | Entrances, corridors, classrooms, wards, shops, changing areas |
| Static-dissipative safety floor | PTV 36, R10 | Computer and server suites, laboratories with static-sensitive equipment, electronics production |
| Heavy-duty floor, 4mm | PTV 36, R10 | Industrial areas with pallet trucks and occasional forklift, sports changing rooms with spikes |
| Wet and greasy areas | PTV 55, R12 | Commercial kitchens, cold rooms, food preparation |
| Wet-room barefoot floor | PTV 50, R11 | Bathrooms, wet rooms, showers, spas |
The same guide marks domestic kitchens as an application for some of the general purpose products and commercial kitchens, which it labels as not domestic, for the wet-and-greasy product. The guide states a guarantee and a life expectancy for each product, and these are manufacturer claims.
PTV and R values together
Altro lists both a pendulum test value (PTV) and an R rating for each product. The R values in its guide run from R10 to R12. HSE calls an R9 rating a warning sign, so a floor listed at R9 deserves a question. You should ask for the test certificate behind every number, including those at R10 and above.
Two more products in the same guide
Altro also lists a 2.5mm floor with PTV 40 and R10 for laundries, serveries and service corridors, and a 2.5mm floor with PTV 45 and R11 for sluice rooms, craft and design areas and sports changing rooms. The values are the manufacturer's own, and you should ask for the test certificate behind them.
Static-dissipative floors
Altro lists its static-dissipative safety floor for computer and server suites, laboratories with static-sensitive equipment or gases, and production areas for electronics. If your room holds equipment that static can damage, tell the contractor in your brief.
Wet-room floors
Altro lists a 2.8mm floor with PTV 50 and R11 for bathrooms, wet rooms, showers, saunas, spas and level-access home adaptation bathrooms, with a note that changing rooms where spikes or studs are used need a heavy-duty range instead. The values are the manufacturer's own.
How slip resistance is tested
The pendulum test
HSE says the best way to measure slip resistance is the pendulum test, as described by BS 7976 and the UK Slip Resistance Group guidelines. The HSE page gives no pass value. The HSE page points to a separate HSE guide, Assessing the slip resistance of flooring, which is aimed at employers who need to measure floor slipperiness and at those interpreting manufacturers' test data.
Roughness
HSE says surface roughness can be measured and gives an indication of how slippery a surface may be when wet. HSE links this to its slips assessment tool for risk assessment.
Manufacturer claims
If a manufacturer does not claim a floor is slip resistant when wet, HSE says the floor will probably be slippery when wet, and an R9 rating is a warning sign. HSE advises considering whether a testing company has an interest in finding problems.
Cleaning and hygiene
Safety floors are rougher, so they can hold more cleaning solution and leave residue. HSE advises removing as much solution as possible, for example with a dry mop or wet vacuum. HSE says there is no evidence that safety floors cannot be cleaned to a hygienic standard.
Agree the cleaning method first
Ask the contractor which cleaning method and products the manufacturer allows. If your cleaning team uses a different method, you should say so before the floor is chosen.
Heavy traffic and forklifts
A heavy-duty sheet floor and a resin floor handle different loads. Altro lists its 4mm Atlas 40 for industrial areas with heavy wheeled traffic such as pallet trucks and occasional forklift use, and says to choose a resin for more intense forklift use. The guide to polished concrete and resin floors covers the resin options.
Gym and sports changing rooms
Some commercial products list sports changing rooms where studs or spikes are used. The gym flooring guide covers gym floors themselves.
Commercial flooring businesses in Wales
The directory lists 51 businesses under commercial and industrial flooring, and 157 of the 326 listed businesses state commercial or industrial work on their own site. Commercial work is quoted by region, so the directory shows it Wales-wide and by region: North Wales (18), Mid & West Wales (9), South East Wales (24).
Accreditations among commercial specialists
9 of the 51 businesses in the commercial group show at least one accreditation or review-platform badge on their own site. The guide to flooring accreditations shows how many Welsh businesses show CHAS or Constructionline and what each scheme checks.
Public-sector buyers
A trade guide notes that local authorities often require CHAS or Constructionline accreditation from their contractors. If you buy for a council, school or housing provider, check the procurement rules before you shortlist.
Keep the data sheet
Altro states that its product information is correct as at September 2026 and tells readers to check its site for current data. Ask the contractor for the data sheet and test certificate that match your product and keep them with your records.
A short buyer's checklist
Write the hazard, the footwear and the cleaning method on one page, give it to each contractor, and compare the products they propose against that page. You will find it easier to spot a mismatch when every quote answers the same brief.
Questions to put to a contractor
- What slip values does the product carry, from which test, and for wet or greasy conditions?
- What is the hazard in this room, and how does the specification answer it?
- What cleaning method does the manufacturer allow, and does it suit the room?
- What subfloor moisture and flatness does the manufacturer require? The subfloor preparation guide explains the tests.
The guide to hiring a flooring fitter gives the other checks to run before you sign.
What this page does not cover
The page tabulates one manufacturer's range, which is marketing material, and cites two HSE pages that do not give pass values. The page does not cover raised access floors, fire ratings or accessibility rules, and it gives no prices. HSE guidance and a specifier's risk assessment decide what a given room needs, and the directory does not verify any contractor's claims. The directory has not checked that any listed business has fitted a product named here.