If you are asking what slip rating your floor needs, the short answer is that published guidance puts commercial kitchens and loading docks at the top of the range, around P5 or R12, wet processing and cold storage areas a step below at P4 or R11, and general warehouse traffic areas that stay dry considerably lower. The longer answer is that the classification for your specific floor depends on what contaminates it, how often, and what happens to someone who slips there. That is a decision for a specifier or a slip resistance test, not a rule of thumb.
This article explains how the Australian slip resistance system actually works, what the classifications mean in practice for warehouses and commercial kitchens, and what a non-slip epoxy system involves once you get past the ratings. If you are still deciding whether epoxy suits your site at all, our guide to commercial epoxy floor coating in Sydney is the better starting point.
How Australian slip ratings work
AS 4586 is the standard that classifies the slip resistance of new pedestrian surface materials. It uses more than one test method, and the results are not interchangeable, which is where most of the confusion in quotes and specifications comes from.
Wet pendulum test, reported as P0 to P5.
A weighted pendulum with a rubber slider swings across a wet sample to produce a slip resistance value. P0 is the lowest classification and P5 the highest. This is the method most commonly quoted in Australian specifications for shod pedestrian areas.
Oil-wet inclining ramp test, reported as R9 to R13.
Testers in standardised boots walk on an oil-coated sample while the platform angle increases until they lose grip. R9 is the lowest and R13 the highest. This method suits areas where oil or grease is the realistic contaminant, which is why commercial kitchens are usually specified in R values.
Wet barefoot inclining ramp test, reported as A, B or C.
The same ramp principle with barefoot testers on a wet surface. Relevant to pools and change rooms rather than warehouses.
Dry floor friction test, reported as D0 or D1.
Measures coefficient of friction on a dry surface only.
A P rating and an R rating are not two names for the same measurement, so a coating quoted as R11 has not been given a P classification unless it was separately tested that way. AS 4663 is the companion standard used to test slip resistance of surfaces already in service, which is what you would use to check whether an existing floor still performs.
What classification does your area need?
Standards Australia handbook guidance (SA HB 198) is what specifiers use to match an area type to a classification. The commonly published recommendations look like this.
| Area | Wet pendulum | Oil-wet ramp |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial kitchens, loading docks | P5 | R12 |
| Bar and club serving areas, cold storage | P4 | R11 |
| Fast food outlets, fresh produce areas | P3 | R10 |
| Supermarket aisles and general dry retail | P1 | R9 |
| Wet areas in offices and hotels | P3 | R10 |
| Transitional areas (entries where floors go from wet to dry) | P2 | R9 |
| Dry internal areas | P1 | R9 |
| External ramps steeper than 1:14 | P5 | R12 |
| External pavements and driveways | P4 | R11 |
| Undercover car parks | P3 | R10 |
Treat this as orientation rather than specification. The classification your site actually needs depends on the contaminant, the frequency of exposure, the gradient, the footwear people wear and the consequence of a fall. A dry parts warehouse and a wash-down bay in the same building need different classifications, and specifying the whole floor to the higher of the two is a common and expensive mistake.
That points to the practical answer for most facilities: zone the floor. Specify the higher classification for the wet, greasy and sloped areas, and a lower one for the dry traffic and storage areas where a heavily textured finish would only make cleaning harder.
Why the highest rating is not automatically the right choice
A high slip classification is achieved by adding texture, usually through an aggregate or a broadcast additive in the topcoat. That texture is what stops the slip, and it is also what traps grease and makes the floor harder to clean. In a commercial kitchen, a floor that meets a high classification on paper but cannot be cleaned properly in practice ends up contaminated, which is both a food safety problem and, once the contamination builds up, a slip problem again.
The right specification balances the classification against cleanability, the cleaning regime the site can realistically maintain, chemical resistance to whatever gets spilled, and forklift or trolley traffic. Getting that balance right is the actual skill in specifying a non-slip floor.
WHS duties, in plain terms
Under Australian work health and safety law, the person conducting a business or undertaking has a duty to manage risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, and slips and trips sit squarely inside that duty. Safe Work Australia’s model WHS framework, which NSW has adopted, is the reference point.
In practice that means identifying where slips are likely, controlling the risk (floor surface, drainage, cleaning regime, footwear, signage), and keeping records of what you assessed and why you chose the control you did. A slip resistance classification on a floor is evidence of a control, not the whole obligation. Drainage falls, mat placement, cleaning frequency and spill response all sit alongside the coating.
For food premises, floors also need to be able to be effectively cleaned and to resist grease and water, which is a separate requirement under the Food Standards Code and one reason seamless coated floors are common in commercial kitchens rather than tiled and grouted ones.
What a non-slip epoxy install actually involves
The coating system is the last part of the job, not the main part.
1. Surface preparation.
Concrete grinding or shot blasting opens the surface profile so the coating can bond mechanically. This is the step that determines whether the floor lasts, and it is the step most often cut short on a cheap quote. Any existing coating, sealer or curing compound has to come off.
2. Concrete repair first.
Cracking, spalling, delamination and joint failure all need to be repaired before coating, because a coating over damaged concrete fails along the damage.
3. Primer and build coats.
A primer penetrates and seals the prepared concrete, then build coats provide thickness and durability for the traffic the floor carries.
4. Non-slip topcoat.
The anti-slip additive is broadcast into or mixed through the topcoat to achieve the specified classification. The additive type and grade is what moves the floor between classifications, so it needs to be nominated in the scope of works, not decided on the day.
5. Curing and returning to service.
Coated floors need a curing period before full trafficable use, typically staged so that foot traffic returns before forklift traffic. Plan the shutdown around the curing schedule.
Epoxy or polyurethane?
Epoxy is the standard choice for warehouse and industrial floors with moderate to heavy traffic and no unusual chemical or thermal exposure. Polyurethane costs more and earns it in demanding environments: thermal cycling, cold storage, wash-down areas, aggressive chemical exposure and areas with UV exposure where colour retention matters. A common approach in mixed-use facilities is an epoxy build system with a polyurethane topcoat, which gives cost-effective thickness plus resistance where it is needed.
Either system can be specified with anti-slip additives to meet the classification your area requires, so the slip decision and the resin decision are separate choices.
Frequently Asked Questions on Epoxy Floor Coatings and Regulations
What slip rating do I need for a commercial kitchen?
Published HB 198 guidance puts commercial kitchens at P5 or R12, the top of the range, because grease and water contamination is constant. Confirm the classification for your kitchen with a specifier, and factor in whether your cleaning regime can maintain a floor with that much texture.
What slip rating do I need for a warehouse floor?
It depends on the zone. Dry storage and traffic areas sit at the lower end, while loading docks are commonly specified around P5 or R12 and wash-down or cold storage areas around P4 or R11. Zoning the floor is usually better value than coating the whole area to the highest classification.
Is a P rating the same as an R rating?
No. They come from different AS 4586 test methods, the wet pendulum and the oil-wet ramp, and cannot be converted between each other. A product tested to one has not automatically been classified under the other.
Can you make our existing epoxy floor non-slip without recoating the whole thing?
Sometimes, depending on the condition and thickness of the existing coating and how well it is still bonded. It needs an assessment first, because applying a non-slip topcoat over a failing coating simply transfers the failure to the new surface.
Does a non-slip floor satisfy our WHS obligations?
It is one control, not the whole duty. You still need to assess where slips are likely on your site and address drainage, cleaning frequency, spill response, footwear and signage alongside the floor surface.
Are non-slip epoxy floors harder to clean?
More texture does make cleaning harder, which is why the classification should match the actual risk rather than defaulting to the highest available. The right specification is the one your cleaning regime can keep clean.
Stakat Building is a commercial and industrial remedial contractor working across Sydney West and greater Sydney on concrete repairs, structural remediation, steel replacement, facade and waterproofing rectification. If you are holding an engineer’s report and need the works scoped, priced and delivered, get in touch or call 0427 595 170 for a free site assessment.