New Standard Published For Inspection Of Hard Surface Floor Coverings

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) announced in a press release the publication of a new American National Standard ANSI/IICRC S220 Standard for Professional Inspection of Hard Surface Floor Coverings (first edition, 2021).  

ANSI/IICRC S220 standard describes the non-destructive procedures, methods, and systems for professional inspectors to follow when inspecting light commercial and residential hard surface floor coverings, including stone, laminate, prefinished wood, ceramic, and resilient. This standard does not specifically address the protocols and procedures for installing hard surface floor coverings. 

Professional inspection of hard surface floor coverings consists of the following components for which procedures are described in the ANSI/IICRC S220 standard:

- Professional Hard Surface Floor Covering Inspector

- Commissioning parties

- Writing inspection reports

- Inspection tools and equipment

- Photography

- Chain of custody, storage, and handling

- Wood flooring inspection

- Laminate flooring inspection

- Stone, ceramic flooring inspection

- Resilient flooring inspection

- Limitations, complexities, complications and conflicts

“The importance of the S220 is to give the industry a resource for what goes into a hard surface flooring inspection. This is an invaluable resource to all in the floor covering industry,” said Jessica Violand Bruno, S220 Standard Consensus Body Chair. “The S220 is the first document of its kind by the IICRC and ANSI. We are excited to finally release this document after many years of work. We are grateful for all those in the industry who volunteered their time to make this standard a reality.”