Home / The tests
The method
Two readings, one straight answer
Grip can’t be judged by eye, 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)
Our main tool is the pendulum. A weighted arm drags a rubber slider across the floor — the lab stand-in for a heel losing its grip — and the resistance becomes a Pendulum Test Value. We take it wet and dry, three ways; 36 or more puts the floor in the low-risk band, which the HSE treats as the line to clear.
Surface roughness (Rz)
Texture is the other half of the story. On floors that meet water, oil or grease, we measure the micro-roughness in microns: enough of it and water clears, so the surface still grips. 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.
Independence is the point
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.
Book a test
Settle it — get the number
Surface, rough size, where you are in Wrexham — that’s all we need to quote.