Laminate Flooring AC Rating

To provide effective assistance to prospective customers and sales staff in making the right choice from a broad range of products, the majority of European laminate flooring manufacturers have joined forces in a trade association. The EPLF (Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring) set out back in 1995 to regularly provide information to both the trade and consumers on product properties and developments in the field of laminate flooring. It has since engaged in an in-depth exchange of experience with experts and test institutes, is strongly committed to research and has already brought its influence to bear in establishing meaningful quality differentiation features which are now reflected in a new European standard.

The common term used to denote the durability level of laminate flooring is its "AC" rating. AC ratings are an abbreviated representation of a laminate's resistance to abrasion, impact, stains and cigarette burns. The ratings also indicate that the product has been tested for the effects of furniture legs, castors, and swelling along its edges. If a laminate flooring product has a rating, then it has passed all of the test criteria. Failing just one test will disqualify a product.

The labeling requirements contained in the new European (EPLF) standard provide greater detail on which to base your choice of laminate flooring and will give you a better understanding of which laminate flooring products best suit the various requirements in domestic and commercial applications.

The different levels of use not only take abrasion into account, as was the case in the past, but also include more specific requirements, such as impact resistance, resistance to staining and cigarette burns, the effects of furniture legs or castors and thickness swelling along element edges.