Washington, DC, Jan. 13--The North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) was recently named a sponsor of the 2004 ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Flooring Conference to be held in Key West, FL, March 31 through April 2. The primary goal of this conference, which will include industry representatives from both Europe and North America, is to create harmony among the existing standards and requirements of laminate floors manufactured in member countries.
A major topic of discussion is expected to be the recent publication of an updated NALFA/ANSI LF-01-2003 standard for laminate product in the North American marketplace. In reaction to the increasingly sophisticated laminate product and technology flooding the industry, the NALFA Technical Committee diligently revised and upgraded the current standard to create a three-tiered system of performance criteria.
“The ISO Conference is a unique opportunity for us to discuss various testing methods and industry standards with our European counterparts,” said Bill Dearing, president of NALFA. “The U.S. has developed standards that are on par with those of the Europeans and which superbly judge a product’s ability to perform under ‘real world’ conditions.”
ISO approached NALFA with an invitation to sponsor the 2004 Flooring Conference, which, in addition to laminate producers, also is expected to draw carpet and resilient flooring industry representatives from approximately 50 countries.
“The invitation to sponsor this conference sends a clear message to the flooring community that NALFA has emerged from a short infancy to become a worldwide industry player,” said Dearing. “We bring an impressive collection of knowledge to the global laminate industry.”
Delegates from eight nations, including the U.S., Sweden, Germany, France and Norway will meet during the ISO Conference specifically to discuss laminate industry standards and testing methods. After working in separate breakout groups during the first two days of the conference, delegates will then attend a larger overview session on the final day.
