Applicable Standards Relevant to the Flooring Industry

Improving Standards with BS 8203

The Contract Flooring Association (CFA) recognised the need for a flooring industry standard for plywood. Subsequently, they worked on a program of consultation with timber and panel experts to produce a Plywood Guidance Note, which was subsequently issued in July 2013. The Guidance was very successful and became widely adopted throughout the industry.

Further work by the CFA, its manufacturing committee and BSi representatives was undertaken to introduce the guidance into British Standards. As a result, the normative ‘Annex A’ is now included in BS 8203 thus providing a performance specification for plywood.

N.B. The normative annex defines guidance that should be followed.

Quality Benchmark for Plywood Flooring

The significant development for the industry means that manufacturers and installers have a clear reference on the specification of plywood for a successful and reliable installation. Due to the change, trained fitters that are working to BS 8203 now need to ensure they are using the correct specification of plywood.

Manufacturers of LVT, adhesives and all other allied products have welcomed this addition to the BS 8203 standard.  The industry standard provides reassurance that associated products are used with plywood that is tested, approved and fit for purpose.