Floor protection, sequencing and handover

At a glance

Figures belong to the cited guideline or paper, not to every floor. The floor maker and the stone partner set theirs. BS 8201:2011 was not read.

Where the floor sits in the programme

Floors go in late, and they are the element most often damaged by the trades that follow. The drawing shows the usual order for a timber floor in a refurbishment or new build. It is a pattern, not a programme: every project has its own, and the floor installer and the main contractor must agree the dates. For stone, the same logic holds, but the stone partner sets the screed, bed and cure requirements, and a stone floor may sit before the dirtiest finishing work to avoid kneeling on a protected surface.

Our own installation guide says the floor is one of the last elements of the build: after the wet trades, the plastering and the primer coats of paint, with walls, windows and external doors in place so that the room’s temperature and humidity can be controlled. That matches one distributor’s guideline for end grain flooring, which asks for all wet trades to be complete and dried out and the building weathertight before materials are delivered. Both say the same thing: do not bring a floor into a building that is still drying.

Three dates drive the programme. The first is when the screed is dry enough to receive the floor, which depends on thickness, screed type and ventilation and must be proved by test, not by calendar. The second is when the heating has been commissioned and run. The third is when the last dirty trade leaves, because that is when the protection can come off. The subfloor sheet and the acclimatisation and site conditions sheet cover the first and the conditions in detail.

Before delivery: screed, heating and conditions

Screed. A stone supplier’s technical manual says to allow enough time in the building programme for the screed to cure and dry fully, and gives no durations. For tiling, a Tile Association paper (2013, updated 2014) gives 80 days for a 65 mm and 100 days for a 75 mm unconditioned cement and sand screed, and for a calcium sulfate screed in ideal conditions 40, 60 and 80 days for 40, 50 and 60 mm. Those are for tiling and for the conditions the paper states; a timber floor has its own moisture limits, which depend on the floor and the test, so use the floor maker’s limits and see the subfloor sheet. Timber and stone are both damaged by a wet slab, in different ways, and neither can be put right once the floor is down.

Heating. The same stone manual says an underfloor heating system must be tested before the stone is laid. One distributor’s end grain guideline asks for the system to be fully commissioned and run for a full cycle to a maximum floor temperature of 27 °C and left running for two weeks before installation, with floor probes to stop the subfloor surface exceeding 27 °C, and for the temperature to be raised by no more than 3 °C a day afterwards. Those figures belong to that product; ask your floor maker for its own. See the underfloor heating sheet.

Conditions. The distributor guideline asks for 45 to 65 per cent relative humidity and 15 to 25 °C, held and monitored with a thermometer and hygrometer, and for flooring to acclimatise in the room for at least 72 hours. Our own installation guide gives 45 to 65 per cent and 16 to 24 °C, and asks for permanent heating at least five days before installation where the building allows. The temperature bands differ by a degree at each end: use the band your floor maker states, put it in the specification, and log it.

Storage. A stone manual says the wrapping on pallets protects stone for limited site storage, not prolonged external storage. Store everything indoors, flat and off the slab, in the conditioned building, and ask the supplier what it needs.

Protecting the laid floor

The aim of protection is simple: nothing hits, scratches, stains or soaks the floor, and the floor can still breathe. Our installation guide says to protect the floor completely with a purpose-made covering if other trades follow, to tape the covering to the skirting with a low-adhesion tape and to keep adhesive tape off the finished surface. The drawing shows the idea: a breathable covering laid loose, fixed at the edges, with a path for moisture and condensation to escape. We found plastic sheet advised against on stone in supplier material, and no primary guidance either way, so treat plastic as a question for the floor partner and the stone partner before it goes down.

• The whole floor. A partial covering gives uneven colour change, as our guide notes. Cover to the skirting, and doorways and thresholds.
• Heavy and wheeled loads. Scaffold towers, platform lifts, pallet trucks and delivery trolleys are a different hazard from foot traffic. Our reasoning is that these need a load-spreading layer over the covering and a route agreed in advance; confirm with the installer and the main contractor. This is practice, not a figure from a source.
• Trades log. Keep a short log of who entered the room, when, and with what. It settles disputes and tells you when the covering can come off.
• Heating. Do not assume underfloor heating can run under a cover; ask first (see the table).
• Inspect under cover. Lift one corner at an agreed interval and check for moisture or marks, with the installer, and record it.

The table gives tendencies by floor type. Each floor maker or stone partner has a preferred method, and where it differs, it governs. The method is the partner installer’s to state, and the table says so where we have no source.

Snagging and handover

Handover is where the earlier steps are proved. A floor that was protected, inspected and recorded is easy to hand over; one with no record becomes an argument. Our installation guide asks for the installation to be inspected during the work and before handover, in line with BS 8201:2011 (listed by BSI as current, published 31 October 2011; the standard was not read for this sheet, so whether it sets out a handover process is unconfirmed).

1. Before the cover comes off. All trades signed off as complete in the room; the log checked; the covering lifted in sections, not dragged.
2. Inspect in the room’s own light. From a normal standing or seated position, counting only what is obvious to an independent observer, as our installation guide puts it. Light above about 4000 K or with a low colour rendering index can distort colour: inspect in the light the room will have.
3. Record conditions. Temperature and relative humidity at handover, and the log since delivery; the reading is the baseline for later disputes.
4. Photograph by area. Dated photographs of each zone, thresholds and edges, before the client’s own trades or furniture arrive.
5. Snag list. Defects mapped to a plan or grid, each with an owner and a date; closed items photographed. See the snagging acceptance criteria sheet for what counts as a defect.
6. First clean and aftercare. The first clean follows the finish maker’s guidance; the aftercare schedule goes to the client with the floor. See the aftercare sheet.
7. Spares and records. Spare material from the same batch, batch numbers, finish product names and the installer’s method statement go into the O&M file (handover and O&M pack).

Who pays for damage by a later trade is a contract matter, and the main contractor, designer and installer should settle it in writing before the floor goes in. This sheet is not legal advice.

The floor is to be installed after [wet trades, screed, plastering and primer coats] are complete, in a building with [doors and windows fitted] and conditions held at [45 to 65 % RH and 15 to 25 °C, or the floor maker's stated band] and logged from [5] days before delivery. Delivery and acclimatisation to the floor maker's instructions, minimum [72 hours].

Screed moisture to be tested at [points] and recorded before installation; [floor maker or stone partner] to confirm acceptance. Underfloor heating to be commissioned and run to [floor maker's] instructions before installation, with probes limiting the subfloor surface to [27 °C]. The heating is not to run under the protection unless [floor maker] confirms in writing.

On completion the [installer] is to cover the whole floor with [a breathable covering stated by the floor maker or stone partner], laid loose, fixed with low-adhesion tape to skirtings only, and kept in place until the last trade has left. Heavy and wheeled loads only on [load-spreading boards] along routes agreed with [main contractor]. A log of entries is to be kept.

Before the covering is removed, [designer, main contractor and installer] are to inspect together, from normal viewing positions in the room's finished lighting, and record conditions and dated photographs by area. Defects to be listed against a plan and closed out before practical completion. The floor maker's care guidance, finish product names and batch numbers are to be handed over.

Standards and sources

• BS 8201:2011 Code of practice for installation of flooring of wood and wood-based panels: BSI: Current, published 31 Oct 2011; scope read 7 Nov 2026; text not read.
• A UK distributor's end grain flooring installation guidelines: Nov 2022; read 7 Nov 2026.
• The Tile Association: Tiling to Heated Floors: 2013, updated 2014; screed drying times for tiling.

Questions we are asked

When should a timber floor be laid in the programme?

Late: after the wet trades, plastering and primer coats, in a building that is weathertight and holds its conditions. Our installation guide says the floor should be one of the last elements, and one distributor's guideline asks for all wet trades to be complete and dried before delivery.

Can underfloor heating run while the floor is covered?

Ask the floor maker and the heating designer. One distributor's guideline says never have underfloor heating on while the floor is protected, because of heat and condensation. Another floor may differ, so get the instruction in writing.

Is plastic sheet acceptable as protection?

Not on our evidence. Supplier material we found advises a breathable covering over stone and timber, and we found no primary document that supports plastic. Ask the floor maker and stone partner, and put the answer in the clause.

How long should the protection stay down?

Until the last trade has left, as our installation guide says. A stone supplier says protection may be required but gives no duration. Keep a log of trades so the decision is documented.

What should I check at handover?

Conditions, the floor inspected in the room's own light from normal positions, dated photographs by area, a snag list with owners, the first clean, care guidance, spares and batch details.

Who pays for damage by later trades?

It is a contract matter, to be settled between the main contractor, designer and installer before the floor goes in. This sheet is not legal advice.