Las Vegas—INSTALL, the International Standards and Training Alliance, recently collaborated with nine industry leading substrate and underlayment manufacturers here on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which signifies a collective industry endorsement of the group’s substrate prep certification program.
The program requires each manufacturer specify the installer of their respective underlayment products as an INSTALL-certified installer or equal. Following this step, along with the successful completion of manufacturer proprietary testing, the installation will be eligible for an extended product warranty.
Mark Olsen, INSTALL instructor and member of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said the MOU will solve a number of problems in the industry. “This is the most important certification INSTALL offers because it is the precursor to the installation of any floor covering product. If the substrate is not evaluated and prepared correctly, the installation of the finished floor will fail.”
The nine manufacturers that have partnered in this effort are: AC Tech, Ardex Americas, CMP Specialty Products, H.B. Fuller/TEC, Mapei, Schönox, Sika, UFloor Systems and USG.