8 commercial carpet tile brands in Australia, and where each one fits.

Picking a commercial carpet tile usually starts with a sample board and ends with a question nobody asked at the start: how long will it take to arrive, and how will it be looked after? We install and maintain most of the major brands, so we see both ends of that.

This isn't a ranking. The best tile is the one that suits your traffic, acoustics, look, budget and program, and we're happy to install whichever brand fits. What follows is a quick guide to where each brand tends to suit, so your shortlist starts in the right place.

Before you compare brands, it's worth settling four things: how much traffic the floor will take, whether noise between levels matters, how much time you have before the floor needs to be down, and who will clean it afterwards.

1. Interface

Interface makes carpet tiles in Sydney, so many ranges arrive in around four weeks rather than waiting on imports. It's a common choice for corporate offices, education and healthcare, and it also makes LVT and nora rubber flooring, which helps when a floor plate needs coordinated hard and soft finishes. Ranges include Crafted Connections, Earthen Forms and Harbour Reflections. Interface supply and installation.

2. Shaw Contract

Shaw Contract, Shaw's commercial business, has one of the largest commercial carpet catalogues in Australia, across tiles, broadloom and resilient flooring. That range is useful for offices, hospitality, education and aged care, where tiles and broadloom can be combined across zones. The catalogue is big enough that narrowing it down is part of the job. Many ranges are made to order, so confirm lead times early. Shaw Contract supply and installation.

3. Godfrey Hirst

Godfrey Hirst makes carpet in Australia, and its GH Commercial collection includes ranges held in stock for quick shipping. That makes it a good fit for projects with tight timelines. It also offers wool and broadloom options for offices, hospitality, aged care and education. Godfrey Hirst supply and installation.

4. Milliken

Milliken is known for design-led modular carpet in workplaces and hospitality, especially where the floor carries wayfinding or a pattern across a large area. Confirm range and lead time early, because design-led projects tend to have less room to swap products late. Milliken supply and installation.

5. Airlay

Airlay is an Australian commercial carpet tile brand used across offices, education and government fit-outs. It suits open-plan offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, libraries and corridors where modular tiles make replacement and future changes simple. Airlay supply and installation.

6. Tretford

Tretford is a cord carpet made with goat hair, available in rolls and tiles. It's hard-wearing and has a distinctive natural look and colour range, which is why it shows up in offices, libraries, galleries, schools and childcare. It behaves differently to nylon carpet during installation and cleaning, so it needs low-moisture methods suited to the fibre. Tretford supply and installation and Tretford cleaning.

7. Bolon (when carpet isn't quite right)

Bolon is a Swedish woven vinyl. It looks like a textile but cleans like a hard floor, so designers use it in reception areas, hospitality, retail and offices where a carpet look has to cope with spills. It needs its own maintenance method suited to the woven surface. Bolon supply and installation and Bolon cleaning.

8. Forbo Flotex (another textile-look option)

Forbo's Flotex is a flocked floor that sits between carpet and a hard floor. It's worth a look for schools, healthcare and other spaces where spills are common but a soft look is wanted. Forbo also makes Marmoleum linoleum and safety vinyls, so one supplier can cover several zones of a building. Forbo supply and installation.

Whatever goes on the floor, two things decide how long it lasts: the subfloor preparation under it and the maintenance after it. A good tile on a poorly prepared subfloor will show every flaw, and a good tile that's never properly cleaned will wear out early, often taking its warranty with it.

If you'd like a second opinion on a shortlist, send us the ranges and we'll talk through lead times, installation and maintenance for each.