BS EN 16165 Annex B — The Shod Ramp Test

How the shod ramp test works

A trained operator wearing standard test footwear walks back and forth on a flooring sample fixed to an inclined platform contaminated with motor oil. The platform angle is gradually raised until the operator can no longer maintain a normal walking gait. The acceptance angle determines the R-rating.

Unlike the barefoot Annex A test (which uses dilute soap solution), Annex B uses oil specifically — making it the relevant test for kitchen and food-processing environments where oil contamination is the dominant slip risk.

The R-ratings

Rating	Acceptance angle	Typical use
R9	6°–10°	Dry pass-through areas only; not for production
R10	10°–19°	Pot wash, light prep with limited oil exposure
R11	19°–27°	Standard restaurant production kitchens
R12	27°–35°	Heavy production kitchens with frequent oil/water
R13	35°+	Industrial food production, slaughterhouses

R-ratings vs pendulum data

R-ratings come from product datasheets — the manufacturer commissioned the ramp test on a sample at the factory. They are useful at the procurement stage to specify a minimum performance level. They are not useful for assessing the in-service performance of an installed and worn floor, because:

• The surface texture that gave R12 at manufacture may have polished down in service
• Coatings may have been applied over the engineered surface during repair
• The ramp test is not delivered in-situ on installed floors

For in-service assessment, the pendulum (Annex C) is the right tool. Together, R-rating and pendulum data give the full picture: was the right product specified, and is it still performing?

Choosing the right R-rating

• Bakeries — R11 standard, R12 in oil-prep zones
• Restaurants — R11 standard, R12 around fryers and woks
• Pubs/bar kitchens — R11 minimum
• Hospital catering — R11–R12
• Food processing — meat/fish — R12 standard, R13 in heavy-oil zones
• Food processing — dairy — R11–R12
• Brewery production — R11–R12

What changed from DIN 51130

The test method is essentially unchanged — same inclined platform, same oil contaminant, same operator-walking method, same R9–R13 rating scale. The European standardisation harmonised the wording and brought the method under the BS EN 16165 umbrella alongside the pendulum (Annex C), the barefoot ramp (Annex A) and the tribometer (Annex D).

R-ratings on UK manufacturer datasheets

UK flooring manufacturers' datasheets quote R-ratings derived from BS EN 16165 Annex B (or, for older datasheets, DIN 51130 — the result is the same). Where a UK kitchen specification calls for an R11 floor, any manufacturer's R11-rated product satisfies that procurement requirement. Whether the installed floor still performs at R11 in service is a separate question that pendulum testing answers.