What do the P ratings mean?
A P rating comes from the wet pendulum test. A rubber slider swings across a wet sample of the floor, and the reading, called the slip resistance value, decides the class. The higher the class, the better the grip when wet.
| Class | Wet pendulum value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| P5 | Above 54 | Highest wet slip resistance |
| P4 | 45 to 54 | High |
| P3 | 35 to 44 | Moderate |
| P2 | 25 to 34 | Low |
| P1 | 12 to 24 | Very low |
| P0 | Below 12 | Lowest |
The P classes replaced the older V to Z letters in the 2013 edition of the standard, so an older specification or product sheet may still use letters.
Which parts of a store does the building code regulate?
Only stairs, landings and ramps. The National Construction Code sets minimum ratings for them in Table D3D15 (2022 edition), and a surface meets it by passing either the wet pendulum test or the oil wet inclining ramp test.
| Surface | Dry | Wet |
|---|---|---|
| Stair treads and landings | P3 | P4 |
| Nosings and landing edge strips | P3 | P4 |
| Ramps not steeper than 1:14 | P3 | P4 |
| Ramps steeper than 1:14, up to 1:8 | P4 | P5 |
That covers the ramp at a click and collect door or the step into a back of house area. It does not cover the sales floor.
What about the sales floor, entries and back of house?
For areas the code does not regulate, Standards Australia publishes recommended ratings by type of area in SA HB 198, Table 3B. It is a handbook, not law, but it is what an insurer, a court or a work health and safety inspector will look to after a slip, because the store still owes customers and staff a duty to manage the risk.
The pattern is simple even without the table in front of you: the wetter the area, the higher the rating it needs. In a store that usually means:
- Entries and the first few metres inside the door, where rain is walked in
- Fresh produce, deli and bakery areas, where product and water reach the floor
- Cool room and freezer doors, where condensation forms
- Toilets, cleaners' rooms and loading docks
- External paths and trolley bays, which are wet whenever it rains
Dry aisles away from the door need less. The specific recommended class for each area should be read from the current edition of SA HB 198 when the floor is specified.
New floor or existing floor: which test?
AS 4586 classifies new flooring materials, usually tested in a laboratory before the product is chosen. Ask for the P rating on the product's test report, not only in the brochure.
An existing floor is tested where it is, to AS 4663. That matters because wear, polish build up and the cleaning chemicals in use all change the grip. A floor that rated well when it went down can test lower years later.
What can be done if a floor tests too low?
- Change the cleaning product or method, since some polishes and sealers leave a slippery film
- Treat the surface: some tiles and concrete can be etched, ground or given a slip resistant coating
- Add entry matting and fix drainage or awnings so less water reaches the floor
- Replace the floor in that area with a product rated for it
Retest after any treatment. A treatment is only proven by the reading after it, not by the product label.
Doing it across a store fleet
Composite example
A convenience chain replacing floors store by store writes one flooring specification with a P rating for each area type: entry, sales floor, fresh food, back of house. The same product families go into every store, so the rating holds whichever state the store is in.
Existing stores are ranked by slip risk from a condition survey, and the worst entries and wet areas are done first. Each store closes with the product details and the test results kept against the site.
