NTCA NEWS 108 TileLetter | December 2017 NTCA’s Martin Brookes named Recognized Industry Consultant The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) is proud to announce the addition of one of its members, Martin Brookes of Tile Inspection Services in San Francisco, Calif., into the NTCA Recognized Consultant Program. Recognized Consultants are the only individuals the NTCA refers for inquiries into jobsite inspec- tions, specifications, and installa- tion requirement clarification. Tile Inspection Services lever- ages over 35 years of industry experience in masonry and tile installation to provide an unbi- ased expert opinion of plans and specifications. Owner and opera- tor Martin Brookes is a NTCA Five Star contractor member, and main- tains an active presence within the tile community. He is the president of Heritage Marble & Tile, which he founded in 1997, and is a sitting member for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)’s A108 committee. Brookes is also an active member of NTCA, serving as second vice president of the NTCA Board of Directors and sitting on both the Technical committee and Standards & Methods committee. The Standards and Methods Committee of the NTCA carefully screens applicants to ensure only the most competent and qualified people are honored with this dis- tinction. The sole purpose of this program is to provide ceramic tile contractors and consumers with a recognized expert to consult with before and after installing ceramic tile or allied products. If you are interested in becoming a recognized tile industry consultant, visit the website at http://www.tile- assn.com/?page=recconsultants. INDUSTRY NEWS –––––––––––– Cersaie 2017 shows increase in visitors Cersaie 2017 was attended by 111,604 visitors, 4.7% more than in 2016, with increases in both i n t e r n a t i o n a l and Italian visi- tors. It was held in Bologna, Italy, from September 25 to 29 and organized in cooperation with BolognaFiere, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings. The exhib- its were complemented by a wide range of initiatives aimed at archi- tects, interior designers, installers, the media and end consumers. The show’s appeal combined with the positive economic situa- tion in the various markets led to growth in numbers of both Italian visitors (+5.0% to a total of 58,422) and international attendees (+4.3% to 53,182) from almost all coun-