As expectations tighten, contract flooring focuses on competence, compliance and better information across real projects, says Adam Jones
2025 has been another year of tightening expectations around competence, compliance and accountability in construction. Looking ahead to 2026, most of the conversation in contract flooring is likely to be less about brand-new legislation and more about how recent changes are playing out on real projects.
Two developments sit in the background of many conversations – the Contract Flooring Association’s new Competence in the Contract Flooring Sector guidance, and the ongoing implementation of the Building Safety Act with its new Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Together, they are reshaping how every party involved in a flooring project is expected to demonstrate competence and provide evidence of what they have done.
Competence moving from buzzword to everyday habit
The CFA competence guidance gives the industry practical, clear advice on what competence should look like in the flooring sector. It is not intended as a document that appears once a year in a file during an audit. It is designed to be applied on every project, from the smallest refurbishment to complex, multi-phase schemes.
As we move into 2026, contractors and specifiers should expect more explicit questions about training, qualifications and supervision, and a stronger emphasis on who is responsible for which decisions on a job. Record-keeping will matter more. What was installed, how it was installed and by whom will increasingly need to be evidenced rather than assumed. This is the moment to be compliance ready, rather than feeling compliance burdened. Those who are proactive in documenting competence and sharing information will find that these expectations become part of their normal way of working, not an extra layer of hassle.
The Building Safety Regulator and rising expectations
The Building Safety Regulator, created under the Building Safety Act 2022 in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, is driving a sustained pace of regulatory change across the built environment. Although the primary legal duties sit with those who design, construct and manage buildings, the ripple effects are felt throughout the supply chain, and flooring is no exception.
Manufacturers play a critical supporting role in ensuring the safety, performance and traceability of flooring products. In 2026, it is reasonable to anticipate more questions from clients, principal contractors and consultants about what information is available, how reliable it is, and where it can be accessed quickly when required. This is not confined to higher-risk residential buildings. As good practice spreads, similar expectations are emerging across education, healthcare, commercial and public sector projects.
What you should expect from manufacturers
Most leading flooring manufacturers already provide a wealth of product information, but the direction of travel is towards material that is even more comprehensive, consistent and easy to obtain.
In practical terms, that means clear technical data on performance and installation, transparent information on issues such as volatile organic compound emissions, fire classifications backed by appropriate testing, and installation guidance that aligns with British Standards while recognising the realities of specific products and systems. For many in the industry, the first port of call is the manufacturer’s website, where technical data sheets, method statements and guidance documents are now standard. Increasingly, this is complemented by information on platforms such as NBS and digital building information models, along with emerging formats such as product passports.
Behind these public documents sits a broader commitment to quality. Manufacturers are running ongoing programmes of testing and internal technical development. The aim is not only to produce reliable products, but to ensure that the information attached to those products is current, accurate and genuinely useful.
For contractors and specifiers, the benefit in 2026 should be faster access to the right documents, clearer connections between specific products and their supporting evidence, and greater confidence that the downloads they are working from are up to date.
Regulation, markings and traceability
The regulatory backdrop continues to shape expectations around documentation. Flooring products need to be correctly labelled and supported by evidence that they meet the relevant chemical and construction product requirements, including regimes such as UK REACH and the rules around CE and UKCA marking. Behind a simple label sits a programme of testing, conformity assessment and technical documentation, which organisations are expected to keep in good order and be able to produce if required.
Alongside this, relevant British Standards and sector-specific requirements still need to be observed. For the flooring contractor, this landscape can appear complex, but in practice a great deal of the heavy lifting is done by manufacturers and trade bodies. What is changing is the expectation that information about compliance and testing will be readily available and traceable.
Traceability itself is likely to grow in importance. More projects are insisting on clear records of which products were used where, what batch or lot numbers they came from, and which installers carried out the work. That has implications for day-to-day habits on-site. Keeping technical data sheets, recording product details in site diaries, and handing over well-structured information at the end of a job are all moving from best practice towards baseline expectation.
Where to turn for help
The good news is that support is easier to access than ever. Manufacturer websites are an obvious starting point, but not the only one. Sales representatives and technical departments are used to dealing with project-specific questions, whether that involves confirming a system build-up, checking compatibility or interpreting a test report for a particular application.
Industry bodies, particularly the CFA, remain central. They provide guidance, templates and regular updates that help explain not only what is changing, but why those changes matter and how members can respond. For many in the sector, this combination of manufacturer support and trade association guidance offers a practical route through what might otherwise feel like an overwhelming regulatory landscape.
And sometimes it still comes down to the simplest option – a straightforward phone call. A short conversation with a technical advisor can prevent misunderstanding, clarify assumptions and ensure everyone involved in a project is working with the same information.
adam.jones@bostik.com
www.bostik-profloor.co.uk
Adam Jones is technical consultant, Bostik UK