Steve Rausch, Professional Business andTechnical Consultant for the Ceramic Tile and Flooring Industry, Atlanta, Ga – Product and Installation stan- dards of ANSI, ASTM, & ISO – are they “carrots” to encourage improvement or, “sticks” to beat you with about failures? Are they too difficult to understand? Are they too “open” to various inter- pretations? I’d like to hear your thoughts. ––––––––––––––– Jake Swoboda, Swoboda Construction LLC, Lincoln, Neb. – I like to view them as carrots, as something to work towards, to hopefully achieve installations that can last forever. I can totally see them being used as sticks though if I ever have a failure. I think some of the standards could be a little more specific. Ron Nash, LATICRETE Intl. – They are simply efforts to clarify complex product categories. Are they perfect? No. Are they bet- ter than nothing? Heck yes. We make products for industries with little/no standards. Believe me there are some snake oil salesmen in the world. Standards are good. Dave Gobis, Independent Tile Consultant, Racine, Wis. – To me, they serve as an expectation of performance. If the end user is not offered an expec- HOT TOPICS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Product and installation standards: carrot or stick? By Lesley Goddin On August 22 on the NTCA Members Only page, NTCA Member Steve Rausch posted a question about the use and perspective on product and installation standards. A lively conversation among installers, manufac- turers and consultants ensued. Here’s a summary of these comments. What’s YOUR opinion? Send it to lesley@tile-assn.com, and we can continue the discussion. 66 TileLetter | October 2018