Home / The tests
The methodTwo readings, one answer
Grip isn’t something you can eyeball, so we take it two ways that back each other up — and we’re accredited for both.
| 0–24 | High risk |
| 25–35 | Moderate |
| 36 and over | Low risk |
| Under 10 | High risk |
| 10–20 | Moderate |
| Over 20 | Low risk |
The pendulum (PTV)
We measure grip the way the HSE prefers — a weighted arm swings a rubber slider over the floor, standing in for a heel that’s started to go, and the drag reads out as a Pendulum Test Value. We run it wet and dry, three ways; 36 and over is the low-risk zone.
Surface roughness (Rz)
On floors that take water, oil or grease — kitchens, wash-bays, production lines — we also gauge the micro-texture in microns. Enough of it and a wet floor still grips; too little and it doesn’t. Tracked over time, it flags a floor wearing smooth before anyone goes down.
What we run to
- BS 7976-2 — how the pendulum is set up and operated.
- BS EN 16165 — the current standard for measuring surface slip resistance (it replaced BS EN 13036-4).
- UKSRG guidance — how the readings are interpreted (we’re a member).
Whoever runs the building holds the duty — employers, facilities teams, and in Welsh care settings Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), which expects slip risk to be assessed and controlled.
Independent by design
Surface Performance fits nothing and sells nothing — no tie to a flooring maker, coating firm or kit supplier, and no commission anywhere. UKAS-accredited (UKAS Testing Laboratory No. 7933, ISO/IEC 17025) and recognised by RoSPA, FIFA, World Rugby, the ITF and FIH for related work. The number is the number.
In the lab, too
Off site, our environmentally controlled laboratory (held to ISO 291) puts more than 300 flooring products a year through their paces — tile, stone, resin, vinyl, decking — and can certify slip resistance or help develop a product before it ships.
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Get the number
Surface, rough size, where you are in Flintshire — that’s all we need to quote.