One of the most important timber flooring issues is quality assurance – an issue is probably not as highly valued as it should be. Normally this only comes into play after a timber floor is laid and there is a problem with it. At this stage it’s too late to easily fix and it becomes a costly experience to rectify. In turn, this often leads to major issues for all the parties involved.

For many years, the ATFA has witnessed products land in Australia that are sold without any regulatory control, only to fail in the home or commercial space.

Product failure causes much angst and often results in drawn-out court cases, which can lead to the company going broke with no recompense for the consumer. This effect snowballs into family issues with budget blow-outs and stress as recognised factors.

Another issue to keep in mind is that often, these non-conforming products have additional unsafe qualities – for example, they may be high in dangerous toxins or formaldehydes, or poor manufacturing procedures may create dangerous circumstances.

However, there is a way to avoid this. The ATFA offers a robust compliance program that assesses products, materials and equipment to ensure they comply with standards, industry requirements and consumer expectations. The program ultimately protects everyone involved.

The intent in the future is for the industry and government to climb on board and recognise this system, hence giving consumers peace of mind while protecting the industry with less product failures to deal with.

Notably, this system is designed to complement the Federal Government Building Ministers Forum for non-complying building products. Under the ATFA program, producers will be required to provide independent certification and/or reports that substantiate and support the validity of the producers claimed compliance and where relevant meet the minimum requirements set by the ATFA and the industry.

So, before buying or installing any timber flooring product please ensure it has passed the ATFA quality assurance assessment to ensure the safety or your company, family and future. All products with the ATFA compliant logo will have passed the compliance program and should be safe to use and install.

For more information, to become an ATFA member or if you require any advice please call the ATFA on 1300 361693 or visit atfa.com.au