Las Vegas—The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) invites the tile industry to its booth (N3163) at Coverings 2022, taking place here, April 5-8, 2022, for a demonstration of “GPTP By the Standard” and to witness the Mud Walls and Mud Floors Advanced Certifications for Tile Installers (ACT) program tests.
Advanced Certifications for Tile Installers
GPTP stands for Gauged Porcelain Tile and Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels/Slabs and is one of the ACT areas of certification. During “GPTP By the Standard,” on Tuesday, April 5, Scott Carothers, CTEF, and Lupe Ortiz, International Masonry Training and Education Foundation (IMTEF)—two of the six leading tile industry organizations to have developed the ACT program—will demonstrate in detail the requirements for installing the demanding tile product. They will make formal comments from 11a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“On Tuesday, CTEF and IMTEF are providing a broad overview of the ANSI Standards for Gauged Porcelain Tile and Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels/Slabs, aka GPTP,” explained Carothers. “We will focus on these tile industry standards to provide our viewers with a comprehensive background on the proper methods required in a high-quality GPTP installation. The topics to be covered will include job site requirements, material handling requirements, cutting and fitting, mortar spreading, embedding the tile and, most importantly, how to handle these products safely to avoid any possible injury to those involved by adhering to the regulations and guidelines of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).”
On Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7, CTEF and IMTEF installers will complete the ACT Mud Walls and Mud Floors tests as follows:
- IMTEF installers will take the Walls ACT test on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. while Jason McDaniel, CTI #1273, and Carl Leonard, CTI #1393, take the Floors ACT test from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Joe Lima, CTI #1487, and Mike Foster, CTI #1735, will take the Walls ACT test on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., while IMTEF installers take the Floors ACT test from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- On Friday, April 8, those interested can visit the CTEF booth to meet the CTEF and IMTEF teams and discuss the ACT program in greater detail. This includes those companies interested in partnering with CTEF to host ACT test events.
According to the company, the ACT program evaluates the skills and knowledge of tile installers with certifications in nine specific areas of tile installation (Grouts, Membranes, B415, B421, B421C, LFT, Mud Floors, Mud Walls and GPTP). An installer may choose to become ACT certified in one or more areas. ACT certified installers represent the pinnacle of performance in the tile trade and maintain a level of excellence superior to non-ACT certified installers, the company said.
The program came about to offer consumers greater confidence that their tile installers follow tile installation procedures that exceed ANSI standards and Tile Council of North America (TCNA) guidelines for floor and wall. In addition to CTEF and IMTEF, the tile industry organizations involved in creating the ACT program include:
- The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC)
- The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA)
- The Tile Contractors’ Association of America (TCAA)
- The Tile Council of North America (TCNA).
To learn about the ACT program, visit here.