A carpet has to meet specific requirements according to wear, appearance retention and luxury. The minimum requirements depend on the use environment and differ between domestic and commercial use.
Use class: domestic or commercial
A distinction is made between carpets suitable for domestic use and carpets suitable for commercial use. In practice the latter means that the carpets can be used in areas with heavy traffic such as shops, hotels, offices…
The Vetterman test is an important test to determine the use class (domestic or commercial) and the use intensity within each class for which the carpet is suited. It is a wear test with which an appearance change due to traffic is simulated and assessed.
Domestic use
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 |
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| light or occasional use (21) |
medium use (22) |
intensive use (23) |
Commercial use
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| light or occasional use(31) |
medium traffic (32) |
intensive traffic (33) |
In order to get a “heavy use” 33 commercial use classification special requirements with regard to cut edge strength have to be met.
Luxury class:
Within each of these use classes carpets may vary in luxury. This can be expressed by the following symbols. These symbols for luxury are easy to understand. The highest luxury rating is class 5 with 5 crowns.