Additional characteristics

Castor chairs

 occasional (private)  continuous (office etc.)

If castor chairs are used, the carpet pile, especially in those places where the chairs are used, is under extreme stress. Only carpets fulfilling the higher requirements according to a specific test procedure will be allowed to use these symbols.

Stairs

 occasional  continuous

If carpets are used on stairs, those parts of the carpet on the edge of a step are under extreme stress. Based on specific test conditions it can be decided whether a carpet can be used on stairs continuously or only occasionally.

Underfloor heating

If a carpet is installed over an underfloor heating system the carpet has to have minimum insulating properties. Thermal resistance has to be lower than 0.17 m2 K/W. The symbol indicates that the carpet can be used in combination with underfloor heating systems.

Wet room

If carpets are to be used under circumstances where they might get wet they have to be dimensional stable and resistant to rotting. Generally this means that carpets containing natural fibres will not meet the respective requirements.

Slip resistance

 DS  NPD

According to EN 14041 floor coverings have to meet certain safety requirements. One of them is slip resistance. If this claim is made by the producer, the floor covering intended to be used under dry and non-contaminated (clean) conditions shall have a dynamic coefficient of friction > 0.30. In this case, symbol DS shall be used.
In all other cases, symbol NPD, No Performance Declared, has to be used. As shown by extensive test procedures all textile pile carpets floorcoverings meet the
criteria for DS.

Antistatic

This symbol indicates that the carpet has "antistatic" properties. This means that static electricity after walking on the carpet (body voltage) is immediately discharged.

Electrical resistance

 static dissipative  conductive

Often, especially in professional environments, higher requirements have to be met, especially in rooms with electronic devices (computers etc). In those cases the symbols indicate for the specialist whether the flooring is "static dissipative" or "conductive".

Resistance to fraying

The symbol with the scissor indicates, especially for loop pile carpets, that the cutting edges and seams do not fray.

Sound absorption

If according to EN ISO 354 the sound absorption coefficient has been determined, this symbol can be used.

Acoustical impact noise

If according to EN ISO 140-6 the impact noise improvement has been determined this symbol can be used. The relevant value has to be mentioned in technical documents. All textile floorcoverings show an excellent impact noise improvement.

Light fastness

This icon indicates that the carpet meets the basic requirements for light-fastness (> = 5, for pastel shades> = 4) in accordance with test methods EN ISO 105-B02.

Mind the ‘light fastness’ symbol

This symbol means that the carpet was tested to determine if the colours stay fast. Carpets that have been subjected to this test and comply with the appropriate standards bear this ‘light fastness’ symbol. Discolouration will not quickly occur in these carpets. They are also known as UV-resistant carpets.
In North-West Europe we can assume that discolouration practically never occurs. With the limited number of hours of sun in our climate there is little or no danger of carpet discolouration.

Don’t let the pile fool you

Do you think you nevertheless notice discolouration? Don't be mistaken: sometimes it just seems that way. There are carpets with some parts appearing lighter than others. A carpet can appear to be another colour depending on how you look at it. This is because the piles are not standing fully upright. The colour of the piles is always darker on top than on the side of the piles. If you move your hand over the carpet in a certain direction you can see this colour difference. This is an intrinsic characteristic of a carpet and has nothing to do with discolouration.

Dimensional stability

Loose laid tiles have to fulfil additional requirements for shrinkage and extension (see EN 1407 Annex A or 1470; EN 13497; EN 15114). If these criteria are met the producer may use this symbol to indicate that the product is dimensionally stable.

Reaction to fire

 Bs1  Bs2  Cs1  Cs2  Ds1  Ds2  E  F

Reaction to fire is strictly regulated in each EU member state. Today, new EU fire classes ranging from class F to class A ( A not relevant for carpets) replace the former national classifications.

Fire classes D, C and B are subdivided in the classes s1 and s2. Smoke density in case of s1 is lower than in case of s2 meaning the product has an overall better performance within the same fire class.

Which fireclass has to be met depends on specific national regulations.

In general, Efl is sufficient for private application. Fireclasses Cfl and Bfl are generally used only in the contract area.

If the producer cannot give any information about the fire behaviour of his product he has to label the product with the Ffl pictogram.