Who We Help · Architects
Floor Safety for Architects
You choose the floor. With a slip-resistance number in hand, you can choose it on purpose and specify it the way you specify a fire rating or a load, instead of trusting a word on a sample.
Specify to a number, not a feeling
A floor sample can look right, feel right in the showroom, and still turn slick the moment it gets wet. “Slip-resistant” on a product sheet is a word. ANSI A326.3 is a measurement. It reports a floor’s wet dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) and ties the minimum to how the space is used, starting around 0.42 for level interior areas that get wet and higher for entries, ramps and anything outdoors. When you specify to that number, you are not hoping the floor is safe. You know where it stands, and so does everyone who signs off after you.
Test the sample before you commit it to paper
Send us a tile, a stone sample, or a coating mockup and we test it in our lab before it ever reaches your drawings. You find out how a finish really performs wet, put two candidates side by side, and choose the one that hits the number for its use without giving up the look you want. Changing a selection on paper costs nothing. Explaining a slick lobby after the ribbon is cut costs a great deal. Mail-in lab testing is built for exactly this stage of a project.
Verify the floor that actually gets installed
The product you specify and the product that ends up underfoot are not always the same, and a polish or sealer applied on site can change a surface completely. After construction we test the installed floor in place and confirm it still meets what you called for. If it drifted, you find out before the owner does, while there is still time and leverage to fix it.
Beautiful and safe are not opposites
Polished porcelain, honed stone and large-format tile all photograph beautifully, and several of them lose traction fast once they are wet. That is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to measure them, place them where the exposure fits, and treat or texture the spots that need help. You keep the design. You also get to stand behind the floor.
How we help on a project
- Lab testing of material samples to the Pendulum Slip Tester (PTV) and ANSI A326.3 (DCOF) before you specify
- Side-by-side comparison of finishes, so a selection is a decision and not a guess
- Field verification of the installed floor against your specification
- Guidance on where a given finish belongs, and where it needs traction treatment
- Reports composed to recognized reporting standards, so the selection is documented for the record
A friction number tells you how a floor performs against a test method. It is not a legal ruling on safety, and we test to published standards rather than writing them. The pendulum and DCOF methods trace to ASTM and ANSI; the AFSA pendulum method comes from the American Floor Safety Alliance, which our founder established.
Common questions
Can you test a material before it is installed?
Yes. Mail-in lab testing is made for this. Send the tile or stone and we report its wet DCOF, and its pendulum value where that fits, so you can specify with the number in front of you.
Which standard should I specify to?
For outdoor, textured or barefoot areas the Pendulum Slip Tester often reads the surface more honestly. For most interior hard flooring, ANSI A326.3 wet DCOF is the working standard, with the minimum tied to how the space is used. We will tell you which one fits the space.
Do you work from our drawings or the finished building?
Both. Ideally we test samples while you are still selecting, then verify the installed floor once it is down. You can bring us in at either point.