Hardwood Floors April May 2018

First page Previous page 105 Next page Last page

student has passed all of the testing requirements and their rst three contracted inspection reports are graded and accepted. To maintain the inspector certi cation, an inspector must earn three CCUs per year and send in one inspection report per year for review. ese inspection reports are graded the same way as the scenario reports, and if the report does not meet acceptable standards, the report must be rewri en and resubmi ed with the corrections added. NWFA Certi ed Inspectors are recognized as being the most quali ed inspectors in the wood ooring industry, and they are in great demand. Many manufacturers insist that NWFA Certi ed Inspectors be contracted when an inspection is required. As with all aspects of our industry, we are in great need of new quali ed inspectors to ll the shoes of those retiring or leaving our industry. e NWFACP certi cation programs were developed to recognize and promote competence of wood ooring professionals throughout the industry. Earning any one of these certi cations helps to validate your industry knowledge and expertise. Being recognized as a true expert in your eld sets you apart and increases your ability to pro t from the expertise you have rightfully earned.

Certi edWood Floor Inspector (CWFI) is one of the most di cult certi cations to achieve. To become a certi ed inspector, you must complete all of the NWFAU education courses and a end the NWFA hands-on schools. e hands-on schools that are required are Basic Installation, Basic Sand and Finish, Intermediate Installation, and Intermediate Sand and Finish. ( e Basic level schools are not mandatory if you have three or more years of experience as a wood ooring mechanic.) Following a endance at the hands-on schools and completion of all the training courses, you are eligible to a end the NWFA Inspector School and take the inspector exam. e inspector exam has 300+ multiple-choice questions that must be completed in four hours or less and will be placed in NWFAU this year. e primary focus of this exam is on technical knowledge, and the student must achieve a score of 75 percent or greater to pass. e inspector school is held once a year at the NWFA headquarters in St. Louis. It’s a ve-day course that focuses on information gathering and report writing. During this class, the students are required to perform inspection scenarios on mock-ups, learn how to gather the necessary information, then learn how to write reports based on the information they were able to gather. ese reports are then graded and, if the scenario reports are deemed acceptable, the student has ful lled all the testing requirements. Certi cation is awarded a er the

Kjell Nymark is Technical Advisor at the National Wood Flooring Association in St. Louis. He can be reached at kjell.nymark@nwfa.org.

Dampen Your Wood Floors! Don’t Let Moisture LIVE Webinar May 9th 2018 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CST Mark Your Calendars