A group of flooring industry leaders joined forces July 17 – 19 in Las Vegas to review and revise the IICRC Resilient Floor Maintenance Technician (RFMT) Certification Program Description and Exam.
These gentlemen, including XL North’s Bill Luallen and Spencer Luallen, comprise the RFMT Technical Advisory Committee. Each is a subject matter expert spanning multiple facets of the flooring industry, including resilient flooring manufacturers, equipment & chemicals suppliers, building service contractors, and IICRC instructors.
Committee Chair Stan Hulin commented,
“The committee objectives are to examine and revise the existing Certification Program Description (CPD) and Exam to ensure that it is current and up-to-date with contemporary flooring material standards and methodologies for maintaining them.”
Meeting Overview & Highlights
The group participated in the actual two-day certification course and exam, including onsite hands-on training, followed by a daylong open dialog workshop to evaluate and assess the class. This process included review of current questions of applicability, new exam questions and edits required in the course book which reflect new standards, equipment and floor types. Amongst the main changes to the certification are new exam questions and edits required in the course book, reflecting new standards, new equipment, and new floor types.
Thoughts on the Meeting from Committee Members
Brent Fike, GM of Technical at Roppe, is a committee member. He stated, “Being part of the review and update of the RFMT program allows Roppe Holding Company the input to ensure that proper information is being discussed and the testing involved is adequate to ensure knowledge is retained or demonstrated. As the technology of products have changed dramatically over the recent years, having everyone on the same page with the same material is paramount to the success and elevation of the certification.” Brent added, “As a manufacturer, proper maintenance on our products is crucial for the life of the flooring. Without proper technicians to perform this maintenance we will constantly be battling the thought something is wrong with the flooring.”
Another committee member, Don Styka, is the Director of Field Services with Tarkett. Don commented, “The revision of the IICRC Resilient Floor Maintenance Technician (RFMT) Certification Training Course and the development of a standardized curriculum ensures that all participants are experiencing the same training and certification criteria. The newly revised (RFMT) certification training course will utilize one instructor guide to provide consistency throughout the learning and testing process, ensuring that all participants are being certified to the same set of standards.”
Don continues, “As a flooring manufacturer we believe that consistency is crucial in educating and evaluating Resilient Floor Maintenance Technicians. The information provided to all students must be consistent from class to class, and they must be tested and certified to the same standard to ensure that their skills are evaluated in a consistent and fair manner. The newly revised (RFMT) course ensures the integrity of this process and provides our customers with a resource to pre-qualify their maintenance service providers helping them hire qualified individuals who can protect their flooring investment utilizing a proper maintenance program.”
Meeting Outcome
As a result of the committee’s efforts, significant strides were made in revising the program and exam, and the Resilient Floor Maintenance Technician (RFMT) course is on track to be completed by October 1, 2017. Classes will be offered shortly thereafter.
Here’s additional information about the certification overhaul on the IICRC website.
