Short answer: choose a floor tile on five things, in this order: the slip class it records, the material, the size, the thickness and the finish. Then check them against the room: a dry living room, a kitchen with spills, a bathroom with wet feet and an outdoor area exposed to the weather ask different things of the same tile. Australian tile shops mostly point to porcelain for floors, and their guides suggest around P3 on the pendulum test, or R10, for a home bathroom, with more grip for showers and outdoor areas. On this site, 36 of the 60 tiles record a slip class: 10 at P2, 23 at P3 and 3 at P5, all of them 10 mm porcelain in 300 × 600, 600 × 600 or 600 × 1200 mm. No product page here has a row saying whether a tile goes on a floor or a wall; the pages record the facts, and the person laying or certifying the floor decides whether they fit it.
This page goes through the five checks one at a time, says what Australian tile shops advise and where they disagree, then takes the rooms in turn: kitchen, bathroom, laundry, living areas and outdoors. A table near the end lists all 36 tiles here that record a class, with their sizes and finishes.
1. Slip class: the first number to read
A slip class such as P3 is a result under AS 4586, the Australian Standard for classifying new pedestrian surface materials. There are two scales from two different tests: P classes from the wet pendulum test and R classes from the oil-wet inclining platform test. Within each scale a higher number means more grip in that test; Ross's Discount Home Centre puts it as "a higher P rating generally means more wet-surface grip." The two scales do not convert into each other, so a P3 tile and an R10 tile are not the same thing. Tile slip ratings: what P3, P4 and R10 mean sets out both scales and where the building code names a class.
What tile shops advise for home floors:
| Source | What it advises |
|---|---|
| Ceramic Tile Supplies (WA), in a guide to accessible bathrooms | For residential bathrooms, "aim for P3 from a Pendulum test, R10 from the Oil-wet ramp test or B from a wet-barefoot ramp test" |
| DW Tiles | P3 for bathroom floors, laundries and general wet areas; P4 for shower floors and for accessible and children's bathrooms |
| Tiles Mate (VIC) | "Main bathroom floors usually suit R10 to R11" with regular water and family traffic; R12 to R13 for pool surrounds and exposed outdoor areas |
| Cheap Tiles Online | R9 for dry indoor rooms; "R10 offers medium slip resistance. This is common in kitchens, general bathrooms and indoor spaces that see occasional moisture"; R11 and above for wetter areas |
The figures overlap rather than agree, and they mix the two scales. Two points are worth knowing before you rely on any of them. First, DW Tiles describes P3 as an NCC requirement for wet-area floors; the table of slip classes in the National Construction Code's Housing Provisions that the slip ratings guide quotes covers stair treads, ramps and landing edges, so ask your certifier which rule, if any, applies to your floor. Second, more grip has a cost: Ceramic Tile Supplies adds that a tile with more grip "will make life harder when it comes to cleaning", and Ross's that a very textured tile "may also need more cleaning".
On this site the classes are reference figures from the supplier's documentation. None of the 36 records P4 or an R class. The other 24, the 11 subway tiles, 12 mosaics and one ceramic wall tile, read "Not specified", which means no class is recorded, not a low one. Where a tile comes in two finishes, its page gives one class for the tile, not one per finish.
2. Material: porcelain, ceramic or stone
The shop guides read here lean to porcelain for floors. Perini, a Melbourne tile shop, calls porcelain tiles "almost completely non-porous, not requiring sealing in order to be protected against staining", and DW Tiles gives porcelain's water absorption as below 0.5%. DW Tiles advises against ceramic and natural stone on bathroom floors without expert waterproofing advice.
On this site, 39 of the 60 tiles record porcelain, 16 ceramic and 5 natural marble. All 36 that record a slip class are porcelain, and all are in the porcelain tiles collection. The 16 ceramic tiles are the subway tiles, a 300 × 600 mm wall tile and four mosaic sheets; none of them records a slip class, and 12 of them make up the wall tiles collection. No product page here records a water absorption figure, so the 0.5% above is the shop's general figure for porcelain, not a measurement of these tiles. Wall tiles vs floor tiles goes through every row a product page here does and does not carry.
3. Size: 300 × 600, 600 × 600 or 600 × 1200 mm
ArchiPro's guide to Australian floor tile sizes says "the most popular floor tile size in Australia is 600x600mm". Size changes three things on a floor: how many joints there are, how the room reads, and how much has to be cut at the edges.
- Joints. A square metre of 600 × 1200 mm tile has 2.5 m of joint, 600 × 600 mm has 3.3 m and 300 × 600 mm has 5.0 m. More joint means more grout to keep clean, and ArchiPro notes that in bathrooms smaller tiles "are often recommended due to their greater grout lines", which it says help underfoot in the wet.
- The room. A large tile in a large room shows few joints; in a small room the cuts at the walls can be most of the floor. Tile patterns for 600 × 600, 300 × 600 and 600 × 1200 tiles lays out seven patterns for these three sizes.
- Cuts and waste. Larger tiles and diagonal patterns leave more offcuts. Tile wastage percentage by pattern, size and room sets out what published guides allow.
Among the 36 tiles here that record a class, 34 come in 600 × 600 mm, 18 in 300 × 600 mm and 12 in 600 × 1200 mm; 28 come in two sizes. The 600 × 600 mm, 300 × 600 mm and 600 × 1200 mm collections group them by size.
4. Thickness and edges
All 36 tiles here that record a slip class are 10 mm thick. Across the range, thickness runs from 6 mm on the ceramic mosaic sheets to 10 mm on the porcelain field tiles and the Studio Pure White wall tile; Tile thickness in mm lists every value. Thickness matters on a floor where it meets another floor: tile plus adhesive sets the finished height at a doorway, and that is a question for your installer before the order. Tiles Mate lists "tile thickness and format relevant to the substrate and use" among the things a tile specification should state.
Edges matter for the joint width. A rectified tile is ground to size after firing, which allows a narrower joint; How to tell if a tile is rectified explains how to check. On this site only one product page records an Edge row, the Studio Pure White wall tile, so ask before relying on a rectified edge for a fine floor joint.
5. Finish: matt, honed, polished or rough
Finish is how the face looks and feels; it is not a slip class. DW Tiles says "polished porcelain typically achieves only P1 or P2 in slip resistance tests", and Tiles Mate suggests "a sensible slip-rated matt finish" for kitchen floors, warning that over-textured surfaces "can become frustrating near cooking zones".
The three Ridge stone looks record a rough finish and P5. Most of the 23 at P3 record a matt finish; four Pietra marble looks record "polished or matt", and the two Atlas stone looks that come in 600 × 1200 mm record "texture and honed". The 10 at P2 are Pietra marble looks, most recording "honed or polished". What is a honed finish? explains the word, and the matt and rough finish collections group the tiles by face.
6. Room by room
Kitchen floors
Kitchen floors take spills, grease and dropped pans. Perini points to porcelain for kitchens and to large-format stone and concrete looks, "often a minimum size of 600 x 600mm"; Tiles Mate to a slip-rated matt finish; Cheap Tiles Online names R10 as common in kitchens. The kitchen tiles collection holds 38 tiles: 24 are subway tiles, mosaics and wall tiles with no slip class, and 14 are Pietra marble looks, 10 recording P2 and 4 recording P3.
Bathroom floors
A bathroom floor is where the guides ask most of the slip class: around P3 or R10 for the main floor, and DW Tiles' P4 for a shower floor. Tiles Mate warns: "Don't choose a bathroom floor tile from a wall display and assume it will behave the same under wet feet." The bathroom tiles collection holds 56 tiles: 22 record P3, 10 record P2, and 24 are subway tiles, mosaics and a wall tile with no class. A shower floor usually also needs falls to the waste, and the tile has to suit that; ask your waterproofer and tiler. How to choose bathroom tiles goes through the bathroom as a whole, and Tiling a shower niche covers the wall side of a shower.
Laundry floors
Tiles Mate says laundries "often benefit from a practical matt or lightly textured finish". Laundry tile ideas: where the splashback stops, what to check for the floor covers the laundry in detail.
Living areas and hallways
Cheap Tiles Online names R9 as usual for dry indoor rooms such as living rooms and bedrooms. In these rooms the layout does more of the work: a large tile in a long hallway, a 600 × 600 mm grid across an open-plan floor, or a 300 × 600 mm tile in a brick or herringbone pattern. The 36 tiles here that record a class share a material, a thickness and the 600 mm sizes, so among them the differences are mostly the look: concrete, stone, terrazzo, travertine and marble, as the shop by look pages group them. Haven White as a living room floor shows one laid.
Outdoor areas
For stairs, ramps and landing edges, the building code counts surfaces exposed to the weather as wet, and the guides ask more of outdoor tiles: Tiles Mate's R12 to R13 for pool surrounds and exposed areas. The outdoor tiles collection holds five: the three Ridge stone looks at P5 with a rough finish, and Haven In/Out and Haven Pebble In/Out at P3 with a matt or rough finish.
7. The 36 tiles here that record a slip class
Every tile below is porcelain and 10 mm thick; each product page notes that the class is a reference figure to confirm for the intended application.
| Class | Tiles | Look | Sizes | Finish as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P5 | Ridge Grey, Ridge Slate, Ridge Charcoal | Stone look | 300 × 600 mm, 600 × 600 mm | Rough |
| P3 | Quarry Stone, Quarry Sand, Quarry Ash | Concrete look | 600 × 600 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Urban Pearl, Urban Mist, Urban Graphite | Concrete look | 300 × 600 mm, 600 × 600 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Haven White, Haven Fine White, Haven Grey | Terrazzo look | 300 × 600 mm, 600 × 600 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Haven In/Out, Haven Pebble In/Out | Terrazzo look | 600 × 600 mm | Matt or rough |
| P3 | Coastal Dune, Coastal Mist, Coastal Stone | Travertine look | 300 × 600 mm, 600 × 600 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Coastal Ivory, Coastal Alabaster | Travertine look | 600 × 600 mm, 600 × 1200 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Atlas Pearl | Stone look | 600 × 600 mm | Matt |
| P3 | Atlas Ivory, Atlas Frost | Stone look | 600 × 600 mm, 600 × 1200 mm | Texture and honed |
| P3 | Pietra Alba, Pietra Dove, Pietra Shadow, Pietra Smoke | Marble look | 600 × 600 mm, 600 × 1200 mm | Polished or matt |
| P2 | Pietra Bianco, Pietra Cream, Pietra Latte, Pietra Neve, Pietra Sienna, Pietra Storm | Marble look | 300 × 600 mm, 600 × 600 mm | Honed or polished |
| P2 | Pietra Luna | Marble look | 600 × 600 mm, 600 × 1200 mm | Polished or matt |
| P2 | Pietra Perla | Marble look | 600 × 600 mm, 600 × 1200 mm | Honed |
| P2 | Pietra Vela | Marble look | 600 × 1200 mm | Matt |
| P2 | Pietra Vela Fluted | Marble look | 600 × 1200 mm | Fluted profile; no finish recorded |
8. Before you order
- Count boxes, not square metres. Every 600 × 600 mm box here holds 4 tiles, 1.44 m² and 30 kg; Pietra Vela and Pietra Vela Fluted come in 600 × 1200 mm boxes of 2 tiles, also 1.44 m²; for the other 600 × 1200 mm and 300 × 600 mm sizes the pages record the box as not specified, so ask before you order. How many tiles in a box lists every size, and the tile calculator turns your measurements into whole boxes.
- Order a sample. See the face, the finish and the colour on your floor, in your light. Tile samples explains how ordering works.
- Take the record to your installer. The tile's name, its recorded class, size, thickness and finish, and a description of the floor: which room, wet or dry, inside or out.
- Order the whole quantity at once, so the tiles come from one production batch; every product page here notes that batches can vary.
Questions people ask
What type of tiles are best for floors?
The shop guides quoted here point to porcelain with a slip class to match the room: around P3 or R10 for a home bathroom, more for a shower or outdoors, and a matt or honed face rather than polished where floors get wet. Read the class on the product page rather than the finish word, and check it with your installer for your floor.
Is ceramic or porcelain better for bathroom floors?
The guides quoted here favour porcelain, which DW Tiles describes as absorbing below 0.5% water. On this site, every tile that records a slip class is porcelain; the ceramic tiles are subway tiles, a wall tile and mosaic sheets, and none of them records a class.
Can wall tiles be used on the floor?
A product page here does not answer that, because no page has a row recording where a tile goes. What it does record is the slip class, and the 12 tiles in the wall tiles collection record none. Wall tiles vs floor tiles goes through the rows that differ.
What slip rating do I need for a bathroom floor?
The guides quoted here suggest about P3 on the pendulum scale, or R10 on the ramp scale, for a home bathroom floor, and P4 for a shower floor in DW Tiles' table. DW Tiles presents P3 as an NCC requirement; the Housing Provisions table quoted in the slip ratings guide names classes for stair treads, ramps and landing edges, so ask your certifier which rule, if any, applies to your floor.
What size floor tile is most popular in Australia?
600 × 600 mm, according to ArchiPro's guide. Here, 34 of the 36 tiles that record a slip class come in 600 × 600 mm.
Are polished floor tiles slippery?
DW Tiles says polished porcelain "typically achieves only P1 or P2". On this site, 11 porcelain tiles come in a polished finish, all Pietra marble looks: seven record P2 and four record P3, the class given once for each tile across its finishes. Three natural marble mosaics with a polished face record no class.
What floor tiles do people use in a small bathroom?
ArchiPro notes that in bathrooms, smaller tiles "are often recommended due to their greater grout lines", and that this helps on shower floors in particular. In a small room a large tile also leaves more cut pieces at the walls. Here, the tiles that record a class come in 300 × 600 mm (18 of them) as well as 600 × 600 mm.
What is the 1/3 rule for tiles?
It is about offsetting rectangular tiles by a third of their length rather than half. What is the 1/3 rule for tiles? gives the millimetres for each size here, and What is the 3/4/5 rule for tiling? covers squaring a floor before it is laid.
Where these facts come from
Slip classes, materials, sizes, thicknesses, finishes, box contents and collection membership come from the 60 product pages on this site, read on 27 October 2026. What tile shops advise is quoted or summarised with their names from the pages listed under References, read on 27 October 2026. The joint lengths are the tile's length plus width divided by its area, with no joint.
References
- Ceramic Tile Supplies, Slip resistant tiles for aged care and disability, accessed 27 October 2026
- DW Tiles, Which tile is best for a bathroom floor?, accessed 27 October 2026
- Tiles Mate, Floor tiles: the ultimate 2026 Australian buyer's guide, accessed 27 October 2026
- Cheap Tiles Online, Non-slip tiles, accessed 27 October 2026
- Ross's Discount Home Centre, Are non-slip floor tiles worth it?, accessed 27 October 2026
- Perini, Tiles talk: choosing the best kitchen floor tile, accessed 27 October 2026
- ArchiPro, An overview of floor tile sizes in Australia, accessed 27 October 2026
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