Vinyl Flooring — LVT, Homogeneous and Heterogeneous

What it is

PVC-based resilient flooring, supplied in three broad forms:

Type	Form	Typical use
LVT	Planks and tiles	Offices, retail, hospitality
Homogeneous sheet	Roll, heat welded	Hospitals, labs, clean areas
Heterogeneous sheet	Roll, layered	Education, general commercial

Specification at a glance

Property	Typical specification
Classification	EN ISO 10874 use class, e.g. 33 for heavy commercial
Wear layer	0.3 / 0.55 / 0.7mm and above — state it
Total thickness	2mm — 3mm typical
Backing	Dryback, loose lay, or click
Fire and slip	Class stated per application

What the specification must cover

Use class · wear layer thickness · installation method, since loose lay, dryback adhesive and click systems behave very differently under rolling loads · subfloor moisture limit and test method · welding requirement for sheet · skirting and coving detail · transition and threshold details.

Where projects go wrong

• Wear layer unspecified, so a thin residential-grade product is laid in a commercial corridor.
• Laid on a damp slab. Bubbling and lifting appear months later and the whole floor comes up.
• Subfloor not flat. Every undulation reads through resilient flooring, and it cannot be corrected afterwards.
• Heavy point loads from cabinets and racking on a thin wear layer, indenting permanently.
• Sheet joints not welded in wet or hygienic areas, leaving open seams.

Standards referenced

Resilient floor covering classification under EN ISO 10874. PVC floor covering requirements under EN 649. Concrete subfloor requirements under IS 456:2000.