Commercial Kitchen Tiles

Commercial kitchen floors combine constant moisture, fat and food acid contamination with heavy footfall and hot equipment — the most demanding slip and chemical environment in a commercial building. Specification has to hold safe grip and hygiene standards through daily deep-cleaning and years of service.

Specifying commercial kitchen tiles

• Slip resistance with fat and grease. Kitchen floors carry oil and fat contamination that reduces grip more severely than water alone. Specify a wet PTV of 40 or above to BS 7976-2, with a structured or textured finish as standard across prep, cooking and wash-up zones, not just high-risk areas.
• Chemical and thermal resistance. Confirm chemical resistance to ISO 10545-13 for degreasers and sanitisers, and check thermal shock resistance where floors sit near ovens, steamers or dishwashers.
• Low porosity for hygiene. Specify a low water absorption body to ISO 10545-3. A dense, low-porosity surface resists bacterial growth and stands up to daily steam cleaning and chemical disinfection.
• Coving and hygienic detailing. Use coved skirting tiles at the floor-wall junction to remove sharp corners where bacteria and debris can collect — a standard requirement for HACCP and EHO sign-off.
• Grout specification. Epoxy grout throughout, not cementitious — food acids, fats and daily chemical cleaning degrade standard grout joints quickly, and joint failure is usually the first hygiene issue on a commercial kitchen floor.

Related sector and specification collections include restaurant tiles, slip resistant tiles and PTV tiles.

Frequently asked questions

What PTV rating is needed for a commercial kitchen floor?

A wet PTV of 40 or above to BS 7976-2, with a structured or textured surface finish specified as standard rather than reserved for high-risk zones. Fat and oil contamination reduce effective grip below what a water-only test suggests, so kitchens are specified higher than most other commercial wet areas.

Can standard grout be used in a commercial kitchen?

No — cementitious grout is not recommended. Epoxy grout resists food acids, fats and the chemical cleaning regimes used daily in commercial kitchens, and holds up over years of service where standard grout would stain and degrade.

Do commercial kitchen tiles need to meet food hygiene regulations?

Tiles themselves aren't formally certified under food hygiene law, but Environmental Health Officers and HACCP assessments expect low-porosity, easy-clean surfaces with coved hygienic detailing at floor-wall junctions and no exposed grout joints prone to contamination.