Tiles and flooring: one specification, one batch, one order
Corpus advises tackling this only after equipment categories.
The range above is an indicative planning figure taken from our own research, not a quotation and not an offer. buytogethr is pre-launch and has closed no pools.
What you are actually buying
Flooring is bought by area, and the order covers more than the tile: body type and size, skirting and trims, adhesive and grout, and the laying itself — and in a hospital, laboratory or kitchen the finish may have to be a specified system rather than a tile at all. Bids differ on the body type and water absorption, abrasion class, slip resistance, size and whether the tile is rectified, shade batch consistency, and whether an adhesive bed or a mortar bed is priced. Buyers routinely choose on appearance and rate per square foot, leave slip resistance and abrasion class unstated, then order short and discover that the replacement batch does not match the shade already laid.
Why tiles and flooring suits collective purchasing
This is the most honest case on the list for saying that pooling is limited. Manufacturers and distributors already compete hard on tiles, the category carries breakage, shade batching and freight complications, and we have placed it in a later phase deliberately. What a group can achieve is not primarily commercial: one specification agreed across members, a whole requirement ordered as a single batch so shade is consistent, spare stock from that batch held back for repairs, and a delivery schedule that matches the site programme. For a large building those are worth more than the rate line, and that is the basis on which we would run it.
Pin down before price
- Body type and water absorption class, chosen separately for external, wet and internal areas
- Slip resistance for wet and circulation areas, and abrasion class for the traffic each area will take
- Size, rectification and joint width, with the setting-out drawing agreed before the order is placed
- A single shade lot per area, with spare stock from the same batch retained for later repairs
- Adhesive and grout specification, laying method, and responsibility for levels and falls to drains
What drives ten-year cost
- Repairs depend on the batch still being available years later, not on the rate originally paid
- Grout and joint maintenance, and re-grouting in wet areas
- The cleaning regime the finish demands, and how the surface holds up under it
- Wastage in cutting and laying, which follows tile size and room geometry rather than the quoted rate