What “compliant”
actually means.

The standards at a glance

Slip-resistance standards differ by what they measure (static or dynamic friction), how (which instrument), and the numbers they reference. Use the table for a quick check. The sections below go deeper on the big ones. Confirm the governing standard and its current edition for your jurisdiction before relying on a threshold.

What is ASTM E303-22?

ASTM E303-22 is the standard test method for measuring surface frictional properties with the Pendulum Slip Tester, producing a Pendulum Test Value (PTV). It’s the method behind the world’s largest body of slip-probability research and the referenced approach for wet, textured and outdoor surfaces, including pool decks. It works alongside DCOF testing.

What is ANSI A326.3?

ANSI A326.3 defines how to measure the dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) of hard flooring, and specifies the BOT-3000E tribometer for that measurement. It replaced older, withdrawn methods and is now the reference most U.S. tile manufacturers, specifiers and courts point to for whether a floor is “slip resistant.” When a product says “A326.3 tested,” its wet DCOF was measured by this method, though the value matters far more than the label.

A326.3 sets a minimum wet DCOF by product-use category:

• Interior, wet — 0.42
• Interior, wet plus (locker rooms, indoor pool surrounds and similar) — 0.50
• Exterior, wet — 0.55
• Oils and greases — 0.55

Why was ASTM C1028 withdrawn?

ASTM C1028 was a static (SCOF) test using a weighted drag sled. It was withdrawn because static measurement poorly predicts real, in-motion slips, and its results were widely misapplied. If a tile you’re buying — or a report in a case file — still cites C1028, that’s a red flag: the number came from a method the standards community retired in favor of dynamic testing. Old C1028 numbers should not be treated as current evidence of slip resistance.

What is NFSI B101.1 (and B101.3)?

The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) publishes the B101 family. B101.1 addresses wet SCOF and traction classification; B101.3 addresses wet DCOF, grading it as high traction at 0.45 and above, acceptable from 0.30 to 0.44, and low below 0.29. NFSI “high-traction” certification appears on many commercial flooring products. As always, the useful question is which method produced the number and under what condition: wet or dry, static or dynamic.

Why you can’t convert one number into another

This is the single most common way a slip-resistance claim goes wrong. DCOF, SCOF and PTV are not three dialects of the same measurement. They come from different instruments, moving at different speeds, under different conditions, so there is no valid formula to turn one into another. A wet DCOF of 0.55 does not “equal” some particular PTV, and a dry SCOF of 0.50 from a lab machine tells you almost nothing about a wet floor in the real world. When someone converts between methods to make a floor look compliant, or waves an old static number around as if it were current, that is a red flag worth catching. Match the method to the surface and the condition, then read the number it actually produced. We put the three side by side in SCOF vs DCOF vs PTV.

What is ASTM F2048-00, and why does it matter for reports?

ASTM F2048-00 is the standard practice for reporting slip-resistance measurements — the documentation discipline that makes a report defensible. It covers what a compliant walkway audit report must contain: methodology, instrument identification, calibration records, conditions, results and interpretation. ASTM withdrew F2048-00 in 2009 and has not replaced it, but we still build every report to its format, because it remains the clearest, most complete checklist of what a defensible report must contain. In a claim, an undocumented number is worth very little.

What is ASTM F2508?

ASTM F2508 validates tribometers against reference surfaces of known slip resistance — the “is this instrument telling the truth” check. Our instruments are validated to F2508, and we participated in the ASTM F2508-23 interlaboratory study as one of seven labs, which is part of what makes our measurements admissible.

International standards you may encounter

Outside the U.S., pendulum-based methods dominate: BS EN 16165 and BS 7976 in Europe and the UK, and AS 4586 in Australia, which classifies surfaces into P-ratings (P4, P5). U.S. codes increasingly borrow these methods for wet and outdoor surfaces, which is why we test to them when a specification calls for it, and why the AFSA methods below were written to match them.

More standards you may meet, national and international

The full list is long. These are the ones most likely to show up in a specification, a report or a case file, with the one-line version of what each is for. As always, the method and the condition matter more than the label.

National (United States)

• ANSI/ASSP A1264.2 — provision of slip resistance on walking and working surfaces; the workplace-safety companion to A326.3.
• ASTM F1637 — Safe Walking Surfaces: a design practice for level changes, ramps and maintenance. It sets no single friction number.
• ASTM F3132 — guidance for selecting walkway surfaces with pedestrian safety in mind.
• ASTM F2948 — qualifications for a walkway auditor: who is competent to run and interpret these tests.
• NFSI B101.0 — the walkway-surface auditing procedure; NFSI B101.6 — entrance matting, to cut the tracked-in water behind so many entry falls.
• UL 410 — an older Underwriters Laboratories method for the slip resistance of floor-surface materials.

International

• CEN/TS 16165 (Europe) — the umbrella document for determining pedestrian slip resistance, covering the pendulum, ramp and sliding-friction methods.
• BS 7976 (United Kingdom) — the British pendulum procedure; the basis for the HSE’s PTV bands.
• DIN 51130 (Germany) — the shod oil-ramp test, reported as an R-value (R9–R13); DIN 51097 — the wet-barefoot ramp test, reported A/B/C, used for pools and showers. These ramp ratings are their own scale — not a field PTV or DCOF.
• AS 4586 (Australia/New Zealand) — laboratory slip classification (P0–P5); AS 4663 — its in-situ companion for existing floors.

Free download: the AFSA slip-resistance standards

Two of the methods we test to are published by the American Floor Safety Alliance (AFSA), a floor-safety standards-development organization founded by our principal, Claudius Nan. AFSA developed these methods to bring U.S. slip-resistance testing closer to the international, pendulum-based practice used across the UK, Europe and Australia. AFSA offers them free, and you can download both here.

Standards © American Floor Safety Alliance. Provided for reference; verify you have the current edition at the AFSA source before relying on any procedure or threshold.