STONE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1.0 ORGANIZATIONS 1.1 ASTM International Telephone: 610.832.9585 www.astm.org European Office: Telephone: 146.243.7933 1.2 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Telephone: 212.642.4900 www.ansi.org 1.3 NSF International Telephone: 734.769.8010 www.nsf.org European Office: Telephone: 32.2.771.36.54 1.4 European Commission for Standardization (CEN) Telephone: 32.2.550.08.11 www.cenorm.be 2.0 WHY ASTM STANDARDS AND OTHER LIKE STANDARDS ARE IMPORTANT 2.1 In today’s building environ- ment, the emphasis is on safe, per- manent, low maintenance prod- ucts, of which stone leads the list in the minds of architects, design- ers, and consumers worldwide. 2.2 Without a consistent, realistic set of standards and testing proce- dures for stone products, the stone industry as a whole would be in disarray. The standards that have been developed and set in place for these products are important tools to help protect end users, individual companies, and the industry from negative effects relat- ed to product failures. Materials standards help to prevent the use of stone products for unsuitable applications. For instance, with- out the minimum standards for Abrasion Resistance of Stone Subjected to Foot Traffic (ASTM C241), it would be more likely that very soft, easily damaged materials would be installed in commercial applications. This may cause the owner to incur additional cost for repair and maintenance, and nega- tively affect the reputation of the stone industry as a whole. 2.3 These standards also serve as benchmarks for quality limits of products. If a stone with a below- minimum flexural strength is used for a lintel, then it may be more likely to fail, thus causing dam- age and possible injury. Interior or exterior flooring or paving with an inadequate slip resistance level will more likely cause slipping acci- dents in public or private projects. 3.0 HOW AND WHEN THESE STANDARDS APPLY 3.1 As stone industry professionals, it is our task to apply the correct standards to materials at appropri- ate times in order to keep the stone industry strong and to remain a reliable source of quality products. 3.2 Most architectural specifica- tions require that stone meet cer- tain specified ASTM or other test- ing standards before it will be accepted for use. Some products on the market today have not been tested for quality standards that are required for certain projects. 76 TileLetter | July 2019