Hardwood Floors December 2025/January 2026

SEEN AT NWFA SCHOOLS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NWFA

SEPTEMBER 22-26, 2025

INSPECTOR CERTIFICATION

NWFA HEADQUARTERS ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

This five-day in-person course is designed to prepare wood flooring professionals to earn the NWFA Certified Wood Flooring Inspector credential and build a business as an inspector. Led by Jon Namba of Namba Services Inc. and Billy Simmons of ITAC International, it covered the inspector’s role/legal responsibilities, how to identify wood flooring problems, conducting interviews, testing methods/ tools, finding/using industry standards, conducting inspections, and report writing. “The NWFA inspector school is different from other organizations due to the fact that the criteria just to become an inspector is so much more involved. You have to understand the installation process, go to classes, and along the way you

have to pass all the exams,” explains Simmons. “That is one thing that makes the NWFA’s classes the gold standard when it comes to inspecting hardwood floors.” The prerequisites for attending the Inspector Certification course include completing the NWFA University’s Installation, Sand & Finish, and Manufacturing online courses; attending NWFA Basic Installation, Basic Sand & Finish, Intermediate Installation, and Intermediate Sand & Finish; and passing the inspector test. “It’s one thing to sit in a classroom setting and gather the technical information; it is a different reality when it comes to the hands-on portion because you’re touching, you’re feeling,

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