This month sees the launch of the 2022 CFA Guide to Contract Flooring, a document published every five years and regarded as one of the most significant technical
installation publications in the CFA’s library.
FIVE years ago, the last time the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring was published, the UK was a very different place. It was tearing itself apart over whether Brexit should be a ‘hard’ or a ‘soft process’, or whether a fresh referendum should be held to overturn the whole shebang. Two years later, the issue was put to bed when Boris Johnson became PM and led the UK out of the EU.
But less than two months after that, in March 2020, Covid-19 forced a national lockdown which saw vast swathes of the UK populace working from home or being furloughed. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, instituted a historic financial package designed to prevent mass unemployment, business bankruptcies, and economic meltdown. After a series of mini-lockdowns, culminating in a phased reopening of society, the vaccine offered a way out of the pandemic.
But, despite a brief and much-anticipated GDP bounce as Britain got back to work, the sudden unleashing of economic activity led to supply chain bottlenecks, raw material shortages and, latterly, rocketing inflation and stagnation. A recession seemed possible but unlikely. And then, on 24 February, Russia invaded Ukraine. The rest is history.
The above events, while seemingly not directly related to flooring, have had a direct impact on our industry. Supplies have become scarcer; prices have rocketed; budgets have been squeezed. At times like these, flooring contractors need to draw on all the resources available to them. And one of those is the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring.
In his column this month, Richard Catt, ceo of the CFA, outlines how the guide is updated: ‘(In a long process of innovation) new and larger sections are first published in between the five-year cycle as guidance notes for exclusive use by CFA members. They’re accessed on the members area of the CFA website and absorbed into the full guide when it’s next updated.’
Examples of this appear in the new edition and include guidance on screed boards and how to prepare them, something that was universally identified within the manufacturers’ committee as being poorly understood in relation to the installation of soft floorcoverings.
‘A critical eye has also been cast across areas such as subfloors, where the still widely used traditional sand and cement screeds have been well represented for many years, but the development of flowing screeds and anhydrite are also now covered in more detail,’ writes Richard.
As you’d expect from a project with its breadth and depth, an ‘army of people’ contribute, making it written by the industry for the industry.
The guide (hard copy and digital) is free and undoubtedly adds value to being a member of the CFA. Read Richard’s column on page 101.
