Commercial Flooring Materials: Types and Comparison Guide

The selection of commercial flooring must be based on five core dimensions: foot traffic volume, functional requirements, environmental safety, maintenance costs, and budget. Its performance standards far exceed those of residential flooring. Given its usage environment, functional requirements such as slip resistance, wear resistance, aesthetic appeal, impact-absorbing cushioning, and anti-static properties should be considered to meet the demands of commercial settings like hospitals, shopping centres, and schools.

Classification of Commercial Flooring Materials

1. Resilient Commercial Flooring (Mainstream Choice)

Resilient flooring refers to surfaces that ‘return to their original shape after external impact.’ It offers comfortable underfoot feel, sound absorption, and slip resistance. Suitable for high-traffic areas requiring ‘reduced walking fatigue.’

Core materials include:

PVC Vinyl Commercial Flooring: The most cost-effective and widely applied commercial resilient flooring.

Rubber Flooring: Manufactured from natural or synthetic rubber, offering exceptional abrasion resistance and impact absorption (lifespan 15-20 years). However, its high cost and limited colour options restrict its use to high-wear environments (e.g., gyms, airport baggage areas).

Linoleum Flooring: Made from linseed oil and wood flour (natural and eco-friendly), but exhibits poor water resistance (prone to swelling when wet) and requires complex maintenance (regular waxing). Suitable only for dry, low-traffic areas (e.g., reception zones in premium office buildings).

Cork flooring: Crafted from natural cork, offering exceptional underfoot comfort. However, it exhibits low abrasion resistance and susceptibility to moisture, making commercial applications rare (primarily in luxury hotel guest rooms).

2. Hard Flooring

Hard flooring boasts high hardness and scratch resistance. Yet, it provides a firm underfoot feel with poor sound insulation. It suits settings prioritising ‘visual texture’ with moderate foot traffic.

Tiles / Stone Flooring: Ceramic tiles (glazed tiles, full-body tiles) and natural stone (marble, granite) offer waterproofing, fire resistance, and a lifespan exceeding 20 years. However, they are heavy (requiring floor reinforcement for installation) and feature numerous joints (prone to harbouring dirt, necessitating regular grout maintenance). Suitable for damp areas such as bathrooms and corridors.

Solid Wood Flooring: Natural timber with superior visual texture, but poor moisture resistance and low abrasion resistance (requires high-wear coating for commercial use). High maintenance costs (waxing every 3-6 months). Reserved for premium settings (e.g., hotel lobbies, luxury boutiques).

Laminate Flooring (HDF): High-density fibreboard with a wear layer. Low cost and moderate wear resistance, but poor water resistance (swells when wet). Suitable only for dry, low-traffic settings (e.g., small offices).

3. Specialised Functional Flooring (for specific application requirements)

Designed for ‘specialised functional needs,’ these are non-standard categories, including:

Anti-static flooring: Incorporates conductive fibres for server rooms, laboratories (preventing static damage to equipment), factory workshops, etc., predominantly PVC-based.

Corrosion-resistant flooring: Resin + fibreglass composition for chemical plants, food processing areas (resists chemical corrosion).

Sports flooring: Professional PVC or rubber materials with shock-absorbing layers for basketball courts, dance studios (meets athletic rebound standards).

Core Advantages of PVC Vinyl Sheet Commercial Flooring

PVC Vinyl flooring is an elastic flooring manufactured from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin as the core material, combined with additives such as plasticisers, stabilisers, and abrasion-resistant agents through calendering, extrusion, or lamination processes. Its four key advantages – high abrasion resistance, waterproofing, ease of maintenance, and low cost – have secured it over 70% of the commercial resilient flooring market share, making it the most prevalent commercial flooring material today.

Supplied in roll form, it can be flexibly cut to length and customised in width according to the actual site dimensions. Full-adhesive installation using hot-melt welding ensures a seamless finish.

It possesses the following performance indicators:

Abrasion resistance: According to EN ISO 10581 standards, commercial grades achieve AC4 or higher (AC1-AC3 for residential, AC4-AC6 for commercial):

AC4: Suitable for moderate foot traffic (offices, schools), with an abrasion resistance of 4,000–6,000 revolutions;

AC5: Suitable for high foot traffic (shopping centres, supermarkets), with an abrasion resistance of 6,000–9,000 revolutions;

AC6: Suitable for extremely high foot traffic (airports, railway stations), with an abrasion resistance ≥9,000 revolutions.

Slip resistance: Per EN 14411 standard, commercial applications require R9 grade or higher (R10 grade for wet conditions):

R9: Dry surfaces (offices, corridors);

R10: Damp surfaces (toilet entrances, catering establishments);

R11: Heavy damp conditions (hospital corridors, kitchen areas).

Environmental performance: Must comply with ‘low VOC emission’ standards. Key certifications include:

China: GB/T 4085-2015 (VOC emissions ≤10mg/(m²・h));

International: FloorScore certification (globally applicable for commercial premises, extremely low VOC emissions), E0 grade (formaldehyde emissions ≤0.025mg/m³).

Stain Resistance: Must pass ‘chemical corrosion resistance testing’. Common stains (coffee, grease, disinfectants) should be removable with neutral detergent wiping, leaving no residue.

Flame Retardancy: Commercial applications must meet GB 8624-2012 Class B1 (difficult-to-ignite material), preventing fire spread with low smoke density.

Vinyl Commercial Flooring Solutions

1. Hospitals Flooring

Core Requirements: Antibacterial (inhibits cross-infection), easy cleaning (seamless/minimal seams), wear resistance (high foot traffic), repairable (long-term use), slip resistance (humid environments), formaldehyde-free (safeguarding patient wellbeing).

Recommended: Seamless PVC sheet flooring with homogeneous through-colour composite structure. Detailed product solutions available at: Best PVC Hospital Floor Material Solution

2. Shopping Centres

Core requirements: High abrasion resistance, impact resistance (shopping trolley/luggage), aesthetic appeal (enhancing brand image), easy cleaning (reducing maintenance costs).

Select homogeneous through-colour PVC with marble-effect patterns; deep grey solid colours conceal soiling effectively.

3. Office Premises

Core requirements: Sound insulation (minimising workplace noise disruption), comfortable underfoot feel (for prolonged standing/walking), easy maintenance (high-frequency use), minimalist aesthetics (suited to office environments).

Prioritise heterogeneous PVC commercial flooring with foam underlay for enhanced softness underfoot. Opt for solid colours (light grey, off-white, pale blue).

4. Educational Settings (Nurseries, Dance Studios flooring, Classrooms, Activity Areas)

Core Requirements: Safety (anti-slip, impact-resistant cushioning), Environmental Friendliness (odourless/non-toxic), Wear Resistance (withstands student running/furniture movement), Easy Cleaning (graffiti/food residue).

High-resilience heterogeneous PVC with ≥20% impact absorption; homogeneous through-colour PVC for student running. Detailed solutions: Commercial Vinyl Flooring Selection Plan For Schools

5. Industrial premises (food, pharmaceutical, light industrial workshops)

Core requirements:

Heavy-duty load resistance (equipment), anti-static properties, chemical corrosion resistance (oil stains / solvents / acids/alkalis), easy cleaning (dust-free / sterile), wear resistance (forklift / pallet movement).

Homogeneous through-colour commercial flooring offers high abrasion resistance, excellent load-bearing capacity, slip resistance and impact absorption.