BUILDERS / PRACTICAL COMPLETION
The floor is down, the program is tight, and someone has asked for a slip test before practical completion, occupancy or handover. Premrest carries out on-site wet pendulum testing of the installed surface and issues a written report of the results — not a certificate that the floor is safe or compliant.
Book a handover visit ↗THE FLOOR THAT IS ACTUALLY DOWN
A newly laid floor is no longer unused product. On-site pendulum testing records how selected locations perform under the conditions of the visit. What you receive is a slip test report for the project file, not a slip resistance certificate and not a guarantee of the finished work.
Once tile, stone, vinyl or a coating is down, on-site wet pendulum testing treats it as an existing pedestrian surface. The visit is arranged around remaining trades, cleaning and the access the program can actually give.
Understand the testing ↗The deliverable is a written slip test report: locations, method, recorded conditions and results. It is not a slip resistance certificate, and it does not certify the floor as safe or compliant.
About the reporting ↗If a result is below what the specification asked for, the report still records it. Next steps can include a surface treatment, a change of cleaning, or a retest. Premrest does not certify a pass or a fail against a compliance duty.
Discuss the next step ↗AROUND THE PROGRAM
Handover testing has to work with remaining trades, final clean and the windows when a floor can actually be held still.
Send the handover program ↗List the locations the superintendent, certifier or client has asked for. Say when each will be clear of trades, whether a final clean will have happened, and who will escort the testing team.
Selected surfaces are tested with a wet pendulum under recorded conditions. Barricade time is usually short; after-hours access is common on occupied Brisbane buildings that are already taking tenants.
Confirm what the report must include when you book. Useful content is the areas assessed, the method, the conditions and the results. See reporting.
Pricing a maybe is one job; testing the floor that is down is another. During tender you are often trying to separate an AS 4586 product rating from an on-site allowance. At handover the material is installed, the program has a date, and the request is usually for a pendulum test of nominated rooms, corridors, entries or wet areas before practical completion or occupancy. If you are still at the pricing stage, start with builder tender slip testing.
Bring the specification clause that triggered the request, plus any mark-up from the superintendent or certifier. The visit can then cover the locations that have actually been asked for, rather than a walk through the whole building on the last afternoon.
AS 4586:2013 addresses classification of new pedestrian surface materials — typically unused product. AS 4663:2013 addresses measurement of existing pedestrian surfaces. The day the tile is laid, the relevant on-site question is the second one. A product’s AS 4586 slip rating is useful context for what was specified; it is not a substitute for testing the floor that is actually down after laying, grouting, sealing and following trades.
Tell Premrest the finish, any coating or treatment applied on site, and whether a final clean or sealer is still to come. Testing before that work can answer a different question from testing after it. The slip resistance testing page sets out methods and what a result can and cannot tell you.
People often ask for a “slip resistance certificate” at handover. What Premrest provides is a written test report. It records the areas assessed, the test method, the conditions on the day and the results. It does not guarantee that the floor will never be slippery. It does not certify that the floor is safe. It does not establish every aspect of the building’s compliance. Those are decisions for the people using the report — the builder, consultant, certifier or client — against whatever requirement applies to the project.
If an insurer, superintendent or consultant has asked for particular information on the page, include that request in the enquiry so the report can be scoped to it. There is more on what belongs in a report.
A short result is still a result. The report records it rather than rewriting the site. What happens next depends on the surface and the cause: residue from a final clean, a coating that has not performed as hoped, wear from following trades, or a finish that does not meet the figure in the specification. Options can include reviewing the surface, a treatment, a change of cleaning practice, or a retest of the same locations once work has been done.
Premrest can discuss those options. We do not certify the floor as safe or compliant after a treatment, and a retest is a new measurement under the conditions of that later visit. It is not a certificate that the problem is closed.
For a wider commercial property that will stay open around the works, see commercial wet-area slip testing. The Brisbane wet-area checklist helps describe drainage, weather exposure and access on sites that are still live. Send the pack from the contact page, or call 1300 207 915 if the date is close and you need to talk through access first.
This website is operated by Premrest; it does not represent a separate local office. Confirm the requirements that apply to your project, contract or building with the relevant adviser.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Call 1300 207 915 if you need help turning a specification clause into an area list.
No. Premrest issues a written test report that records the areas assessed, the method, the conditions and the results. That is not a slip resistance certificate and it is not a guarantee that the floor is safe or compliant.
No. We do not certify a floor as safe or compliant. The report is a record of the pendulum test results under the conditions assessed. Whether the project meets an applicable requirement is a question for the builder, consultant or certifier using that report.
The report still records the result. Options after that can include reviewing the surface, a treatment or cleaning change, or a retest of the same locations once work has been done. Premrest can discuss those next steps; we do not certify the floor as passing or failing a compliance obligation.
Once a material is installed, on-site pendulum testing is treated as measurement of an existing pedestrian surface, which is the situation AS 4663:2013 addresses. AS 4586:2013 addresses classification of new, unused materials. A product’s AS 4586 slip rating is not a substitute for testing the floor that is actually down.
Yes, that is a common reason for the visit. Provide the program, the areas that will be clear of trades, and any induction or after-hours requirements so the visit can be quoted and scheduled around handover.