Martin Cummins provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the challenges faced by the CFA as it went about creating an updated version of the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring.
I’M writing this article shortly after the very enjoyable CFJ/CFA Awards afternoon at Coombe Abbey, Coventry. The event was attended by about 350-400 people and was the first largescale get-together of the wider flooring community since the world changed back in early 2020.
For me, it was a great step forward in returning to what I believe us humans generally crave: real conversation, discussions, smiling and laughter. Of course, important business was also being conducted in the form of category awards, with installations carried out over the previous year or so being the main focus.
The key speaker, Rev Richard Coles, lightened the afternoon with a really interesting, humorous, and insightful speech. I felt a lift in my spirits as a result of the afternoon of somewhat ‘normality’.
However, this hasn’t been the case much over the past 18 months plus. Throughout lockdown(s), we’ve had different challenges foisted on us, whether it simply be a one-way system, facemask and hand-sanitising onsite or working remotely on Zoom or Teams away from colleagues.
Things have changed in personal and work life for us all. I’m sure conversations on the future ‘normality’ and whether we’ve arrived at a more understanding work culture will continue. The isolation enforced on us through lockdowns, however, also demonstrated close working relationships can still flourish if all set their minds to it.
A perfect example of this have been the challenges faced by organisations such as the Contract Flooring Association (CFA). As a sitting council member, I hadn’t had the opportunity before Coombe Abbey to meet face-to-face with my co-directors and we have, by necessity, carried out our functions remotely with Zoom meetings.
The council is a relatively small group of individuals from various parts of the industry, including contractors, manufacturers, and consultants, to give a reflection of the world of contract flooring. The low numbers and structured meeting format has enabled this work to carry on effectively, although on a personal level I do look forward to the face-to-face meetings again.
A bigger challenge faced by the CFA has been the creation of the updated version of the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring. Historically, the rewrite would’ve involved small subcommittees of interested parties getting together to review the present document, update and amend where appropriate, and then edit for print.
For those who haven’t seen the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring, in essence, it’s a comprehensive guide for the flooring contractor and covers a scope of different areas, ranging from moisture testing (of course) to underfloor heating and slip-resistance.
To enable such a document to be reflective of the industry, it’s important that ‘experts’ (a description I never feel is appropriate; I’d prefer ‘knowledgeable enthusiasts’) are involved in the creation, editing, and updating of different sections.
We’re lucky in the CFA that the committees and the council do have such an array of personnel – what better way of joining together as an industry than by its members collaborating, unpaid, on work to benefit the industry as a whole?
By coming from different perspectives, skill bases and backgrounds, the information being supplied for the guide is accurate as well as reflecting changes taking place in the industry. I
, for one, don’t have significant knowledge on the world of temporary protective flooring and aftercare of vinyl etc, but can offer a great deal on adhesives, subfloor protection and moisture testing, for example. By forming small committees with relevant people we’ve been able to plough through the update to produce a document worthy of the CFA and the industry as a whole.
For instance, on one of the sections I was responsible for editing (substrates) we had subcommittee members from screed manufacturers and suppliers, moisture kit manufacturers, other adhesive and subfloor preparation product manufacturers, fibreboard manufacturers, flooring contractors, and tools and equipment suppliers. This is clearly quite a team – all of whom could add something to the section and challenge others, which is also very healthy.
I won’t pretend for one minute that it’s been an easy ride to get the work done, and trying to get everyone together for virtual meetings has been nigh on impossible, so most of the work has been carried out by email.
The normal debates and discussions usually conducted at face-to-face meetings can, in my opinion, focus people a lot more and enable things to move much more quickly; hopefully by the next time the rewrite is needed we can do so again.
Like any document, the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring cannot cover everything you might need to know, but it’s certainly a fantastic building block for knowledge and a great reference tool. None of this could be done without the collaboration from the CFA membership and the guidance from the management.
If you’re not presently a member of the CFA then this guide itself will go some way to reimbursing any membership costs – there are loads of other benefits too. For those who are already members, look for the new guide next year and thanks for supporting the CFA.
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