The Porcelain Tile Certification Agency (PTCA) is pleased to announce the growing number of product lines qualifying as porcelain in its certification program.

Launched in 2008 this program directly benefits manufacturers, distributors, and end-users, which are all impacted by the misrepresentation of non-porcelain tile as porcelain. To date 602 different brands or series have been tested with 141 failing and 461 product lines qualifying for certification since the start of the program. Clearly there is a high-demand for this service.

“The importance of this program to our industry cannot be overstated,” stated TCNA Executive Director, Eric Astrachan. “From work in our laboratory, we know this problem is widespread. For example, recent random sampling of a national home center store found that 50% of the imported “porcelain” tile was, in fact, not porcelain. This false labeling short changes consumers and undermines all manufacturers making products that perform as advertised and which meet North American standards.”

Under the PTCA certification program, manufacturers who want to prove their tile is porcelain (meeting the 0.5% water absorption criteria) can have their products tested to determine compliance with that requirement. Products that are certified can display a unique PTCA logo on boxes and in corresponding literature.

Porcelain tiles have specific properties resulting from their very low water absorption. When non-porcelain tiles are unknowingly substituted, freeze thaw and expansion failures can result from the unexpected absorption of moisture. According to Astrachan, “Customers can protect their interests by checking for the PTCA logo. We encourage all manufacturers and importers selling porcelain tile in North America to submit samples for independent PTCA verification.”

For a complete list of PTCA certified product lines and further information about PTCA, please visit www.ptcaonline.org.