The two-layer safety system
Turf alone is a surface, not a safety system. Under climbing equipment, fall protection comes from engineered padding underlayment beneath the turf, specified to the critical fall height of your equipment. The turf layer provides the durable, accessible, splinter-free surface over it. When a project has a required fall rating, the spec conversation starts with the padding system, and documentation should come from the system being quoted for your install, so require test documentation for the actual assembly, not brochure adjectives.
The documentation checklist
- Material safety in print: PFAS-free, lead results, flammability ratings. Ours are on every product page; require the same of anyone.
- Fall-height documentation for the padding assembly at your equipment’s critical height.
- Accessibility: properly installed turf provides the firm, stable surface wheelchair access requires, a genuine advantage over loose-fill mulch that scatters out of compliance.
- Drainage plan: a playground that puddles is a playground closed half the year.
Why schools keep converting
Versus the incumbents: loose-fill mulch migrates, hides debris, and needs topping forever; poured rubber cracks and bakes. Turf systems hold their depth, stay inspectable, drain fast, and read as a field instead of a facility. Our EverPlay line (with padding systems specced per project) carries the density for recess-scale traffic. Tell us the equipment and the fall-height requirement, and we’ll quote the system, documentation included.