Slip testing for retail, transport and public buildings.

Why retail and public buildings need testing

The commercial logic is straightforward: the higher the footfall, the higher the absolute number of slip incidents per year — even if the per-pedestrian risk is identical. National retailers and transport operators routinely deal with hundreds of slip claims annually across their estate. Without underlying UKAS-accredited slip resistance data, defending these claims becomes substantially more difficult.

Areas we routinely test

• Retail entrance lobbies — the single highest-risk retail location
• Supermarket aisles and checkout areas
• Department store and shopping centre flooring
• Railway and transport hub concourses
• Leisure centre wet and dry areas
• Cinema, theatre and entertainment venue floors
• Stadium and arena pedestrian routes
• Public sector building entrances and corridors — councils, libraries, public service buildings

Portfolio and framework testing

For multi-site retail and public sector estates, single-site pendulum testing is rarely the right tool. We typically combine:

• SlipAlert survey programmes for ongoing area monitoring
• Pendulum testing on representative sample sites for definitive PTV records
• Triggered pendulum testing on incident locations and remediation verification
• Centralised reporting dashboard with all testing visible in one place

The entrance lobby problem

The first three to five metres beyond a retail entrance are responsible for a disproportionate share of slip claims, particularly in wet weather. The flooring specification at this transition zone — ideally a mat well plus high-PTV main floor — deserves specific attention. We test entrance zones routinely and provide remediation specification advice where the existing flooring is found to be inadequate.