We run annual tests on all our flooring products to ensure that our loading, and environmental test results always achieve or exceed the thresholds for PSA and BSEN compliance, and we share the reports openly with customers.

This data sharing is entirely voluntary and not a PSA requirement, but we choose to do it because we know that giving customers the most up-to-date data helps provide them with extra peace of mind.

And providing peace of mind is the reason why we also conduct rolling load testing. Again, this is voluntary because it does not form part of either the PSA or BSEN standards for raised access floors. Up to eight panels at a time are subjected to loads applicable to that specific grade of floor, with checks throughout the cycle period. The panels are closely inspected at the end of the testing for any changes including debonding or steel wear.

In addition, every five years we have all our flooring systems externally verified against the PSA standard. This requirement is in line with ISO37301, and ensures that we only hold internal or external test data which is no more than five years old.

We recognise that a floor is more than just an individual panel and pedestals. So our testing extends not just across single panels but across small floor areas so that we can also test the bonding between each (e.g. for tongue and groove panels) to check for any potential weaknesses at the point of join.

We regularly run bespoke, project-specific testing for customers, even if (as we’ve indicated) this means extending our product performance testing beyond the criteria of PSA and BSEN standards.

For example:

• Cantilever floors: If a sub-floor falls short of the building’s outside walls then our in-house testing can confirm the performance of a cantilever floor

• Heavy rolling loads: We can create rolling loads that mimic real-life situations e.g. for floors due to be installed in an atrium with high ceilings and glass walls, which will need cleaning by heavy machinery (cherry-pickers can weigh up to 7-8 tonnes).

We can test the performance of the floor, and we will advise the customer about how they can safely run the machinery to protect it and avoid potential risk of future issues (e.g. by laying spreader boards over the floor first, or adding further pedestals to underpin the panels while work is carried out)

[Note: it’s a little known fact that most raised access flooring is actually stronger than its concrete sub-floor!

Sub-floor beams are tested to 4kN + 1kN/m2 UDL, whereas our lowest grades are tested to 6.7kN + 3x safety factor. It’s for this reason that we often advise customers to talk to a structural engineer as part of their specification process particularly because pedestals have a footprint of 100x100m which creates point loading pressures rather than a distributed load]

• Floor height: We can load-test finished floor heights to up to 1500mm, allowing us to offer recommendations around the introduction of bracing bars to prevent any movement

• Extreme environmental performance: We can also run bespoke environmental testing to test products between -40⁰C to 150⁰C temperature and 2% to 99% humidity - well beyond the temperatures and humidity levels that are required by PSA or BSEN.

This level of surety can be very helpful when shipping product to overseas markets where they may need to comply with a mixture of standards, including British, EU, French, and American

• Air-tight floor voids: If the plenum beneath a raised access floor is to be used for air management (e.g. for heating or air conditioning systems) then the floor needs to be air-tight to avoid any potential accidental air leakage through to the space above.

• Fire testing: We also have a fire chamber, which we use to provide indicative results for our flooring products when subjected to the EN13501:2 test.

We can take the void temperature up to 500⁰C (reduced curve), and we’re now upgrading our systems so that we can take this to 1000⁰C (full curve)

We have chosen to benchmark our activities, services, and solutions against the most stringent standards in the world. We now hold the following ISO accreditations:

• 37301:2021 Compliance Management Systems
• 9001:2015 Quality
• 14001:2015 Environmental
• 50001:2018 Energy
• 45001:2018 H&S
• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certification