*This article by INSTALL executive director David Gross was originally featured in Floor Covering News Magazine.

INSTALLments: A Series on the Challenges & Opportunities in the Floorcovering Trade 

The Ceramic Tile Industry Needs More Certified Installers: Here’s What You Need to Know

By David Gross, Executive Director of INSTALL Flooring

Large-format tiles, handmade tiles, an abundance of glazes, colors, and textures—with so many new design choices, ceramic tile is becoming increasingly popular and increasingly complex.

For tile installers, this expanding sector presents the opportunity for growth and the challenge of keeping pace with new materials and skills. Designers and general contractors are navigating these same waters, seeking greater numbers of certified installers to manage more sophisticated projects.

To expand the talent pool, the International Standards & Training Alliance (INSTALL) is currently collaborating with an advisory board and a team of journey-level subject matter experts and manufacturer techs to update installation standards and fast-track a new curriculum for ceramic tile certification. While the new curriculum is still in development, INSTALL Training Coordinator Dr. Bryan Benke offers a preview of the program and guidance on what installers can do to prepare.

Shaping New Ceramic Tile Standards

According to Dr. Benke, educating an installer to the level of certified professional requires a full spectrum of training for every project phase.

“The program is starting with a series of foundational methodology prerequisites that include substrate prep, waterproofing systems, movement joints, large-format tile handling, and safety,” explains Benke. “Once completed, installers can enroll in the ceramic tile certification program and build on those principles by working in real-world situations that mirror every stage of a project, from pre-construction to post-occupancy.”

Benke notes that the new curriculum will train installers across multiple manufacturer systems, and performance will be tested with live builds that mirror real jobsites with problem-solution scenarios common in ceramic tile installations, such as:

Pre-construction and pre-task planning, including submittals, shop drawings, request for information (RFI), request for clarification (RFC), job hazard analysis (JHA), silica plans, and coordination with other trades and schedules.

Site-condition discovery and remediation, such as out-of-plane substrates or high-moisture emissions, corrective actions, and re-testing.

Wet-area commissioning including flood-test failures, isolating leak paths, reworking to manufacturer standard, documenting, and re-testing.

Radiant-heat integration to establish baseline readings, verify post-install, and apply damage response or replacement.

Large-format and lippage control including trowel and coverage verification, movement-joint placement, and corrective re-set procedures.

Movement and control-joint conflicts when drawings omit or under-spec joints, proposing a compliant joint layout, securing GC/architect approval, and documenting changes.

Change management with mid-project product or system substitutions, compatibility checks, project updates and retraining.

Turnover and closeout tasks that include punch lists, care and maintenance documentation, as-builts, photo logs, briefing owner/GC on protection and service.

Post-occupancy feedback loop to capture lessons learned and add them to the annual curriculum update and four-year recertification content.

To advance the path to certification INSTALL is currently working with tile manufacturing industry partners to agree on approved systems, supply training kits and materials, and provide technical sign-off.

It is with tremendous industry support and collaboration that this high-level of training can take place. Installers are encouraged to register interest through their employer or training center to be notified when program seats are available. They can also prepare by completing the prerequisites and maintaining a current OSHA certificate.

“Our mission is to produce field-ready and future-proofed installers with performance-verified capabilities,” says Benke. “It will be a win-win for the ceramic tile industry and for installation professionals.