As FeRFA celebrates 49 years as the recognised voice of the resin flooring industry, it is the perfect time to reflect on the many changes that have taken place, both in terms of significant developments within the resin flooring sector, and in terms of the structure and direction of the association itself. The Association came into being in 1969 as the Federation of Resin Formulators and Applicators, hence FeRFA. It represented all types of companies involved in making or using what were then quite novel epoxy resin systems for a wide range of construction applications, including flooring, concrete repair, grouting and crack injection. The resin industry was in its infancy and no-one could anticipate the phenomenal growth which would take place in the ensuing years. So an umbrella organisation seemed like a good idea and did indeed work well for a long time.

However, the importance and growth of several different branches of the industry (particularly flooring in the food sector) necessitated individual representation and it was in late 1998 that FeRFA became a dedicated resin flooring association, and was renamed the Resin Flooring Association under the original FeRFA acronym. FeRFA started work on producing specifications for the industry and contributed significantly to a British Standard for resin flooring, BS 8204-6, which importantly recognised the FeRFA grading for materials into types 1 to 8 and set the industry standard. Following from this work on the Specification, FeRFA produced a Guide to Selection and subsequently a whole series of technical publications have been published year on year (all available on the FeRFA website).

Throughout the years, FeRFA’s key objective has remained constant, that is to set and maintain minimum standards for the industry in terms of quality, health & safety, technical competence and training, environmental best practice and to promote the benefits of resin flooring as a high performance solution for both industrial and commercial applications. Training has become an important focus for the trade association which is now the training provider for resin flooring, surface preparation and screeding. The introduction of two routes to qualification (onsite assessment for experienced operatives, and apprenticeship schemes for newcomers), has allowed FeRFA members to qualify and upskill their employees and encourage newcomers into the industry.