Post-Incident Slip Testing

You've had a slip incident — what now?

A slip and fall incident on commercial premises triggers a chain of legal and insurance consequences that depend, almost entirely, on what evidence is captured in the days and weeks immediately after. UKAS-accredited slip resistance testing of the floor in its as-found condition is, in practice, the single most important piece of evidence an occupier or insurer can secure.

Why urgency matters

Floor surfaces change. Cleaning regimes, foot traffic, weather exposure, and any remedial work undertaken after the incident all affect the slip resistance of the floor. A pendulum test carried out three months after the incident will, with the best will in the world, not necessarily reflect the state of the floor at the moment of the slip.

Where possible, we attend post-incident sites within 48 hours of instruction. We test the floor in the as-found condition, photograph the surface, and capture environmental evidence (cleaning products in use, mat layouts, signage, lighting). The resulting UKAS-accredited report is then admissible directly in evidence in any subsequent litigation.

What does post-incident testing show?

A post-incident pendulum test will typically establish one of three things:

• The floor is and was compliant. Wet-state PTV ≥ 36 indicates low slip potential — the floor itself was not the cause of the incident, and the focus shifts to other factors (footwear, contamination, claimant behaviour).
• The floor is borderline. Wet-state PTV in the 25–35 range indicates moderate slip risk — relevant to liability but not necessarily decisive. The case will turn on the occupier's documented risk management.
• The floor is non-compliant. Wet-state PTV below 25 indicates high slip potential. The occupier's defence will then need to focus on whether the unsafe state was reasonably foreseeable and what control measures were in place.

Working with insurers and solicitors

We routinely work directly with claims handlers, defendant solicitors, and claimant solicitors. Our reports are written in plain English, are CPR Part 35 compliant when required, and our senior engineers are available as expert witnesses for both written reports and live testimony.

If you have an incident to report and need urgent attendance, please call the office on 0208 246 5562 — same-day attendance can normally be arranged anywhere in Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley.

Book this service in Oxford or the Thames Valley

To request a quote for post-incident slip testing at a specific site, call us on 0208 246 5562, email info@surfaceperformance.com, or use the enquiry form. We typically issue fixed-price quotes within the same working day.