CTEF Blog - About Tile Education and Installer Certification

This article celebrates Steve Rausch, a passionate tile industry and CTEF advocate who never missed a moment to promote quality and Qualified Labor.

Steve passed away unexpectedly on June 8th, 2019. As you might imagine, all of us at CTEF will miss him. 

Every industry has its associations. What makes the tile industry particularly remarkable is the level of collaboration that takes place between its associations and organizations. The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) is an example of that collaboration, working with all those in the industry who are passionate about quality tile installation.

To give you some perspective on those dynamics, we've put together this updated list detailing each tile industry association. 

We have exciting news to share with you: there's a new member of the CTEF team! Her name is Heidi Cronin and she's been hired as CTEF Industry Liaison and Promotions Director.

This is a newly created role to support the next stage of evolution for CTEF. As Bart Bettiga Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) and member of the CTEF Board of Directors says,

"We are pleased to welcome Heidi to CTEF in this newly created position. Given her professional experience and passion for Qualified Labor, we are confident that she will be instrumental in supporting the growth of the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) program alongside Scott Carothers, Director of Certification and Training for CTEF, and shaping the tile and stone industry in the United States."

We caught up with Heidi to ask her a few questions.

When it comes to successfully completing kitchen and bath installations, Qualified Labor matters. It helps ensure that the tile installation will perform as expected and look as designed for years to come in spaces that demand a great deal from proper performance. 

Given how demanding these spaces are, there's tremendous benefit to ensuring that designers and installers collaborate as Dan Hecox showed us in Dan Hecox Inspires Designers, Tile Installers to Aspire to Higher Standards. The more designers understand the requirements of tile installations that perform and the better tile installers communicate with designers, the more likely success is all around.

For that reason, CTEF is pleased to collaborate with the National Kitchen + Bath Association (NKBA) as a sponsor of the April 2019 weekly webinar series.

As you might imagine, we love celebrating milestones especially when they reflect hard work and appreciation for the importance of installing tile correctly the first time, adhering to tile installation standards and methods, and generally making Qualified Labor meaningful.

Here's a perfect example: Alex Smith who, after not completing the hands-on portion of the Certified Tile Installer program test in 2015, returned, passed and became CTI #1500. That's a milestone from many perspectives.

We caught up with Alex to learn more about him and his love of tile installation.

The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation has news to share with you! We are searching for an Executive Director to take the foundation's mission to the next level.

This represents a major milestone for CTEF. Realize that all the education, training and certification of 1,500 CTIs and many ACTs achieved this far has happened because of the intense dedication of two full-time staff members, an army of volunteers and the outsourcing of some functions. 

It's time, though, for a dedicated Executive Director.

We caught up with Bart Bettiga, Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) and member of the CTEF Board of Directors to learn more.

Are you familiar with the Global Monumental Hand-Print Mural Project?

It's a massively big project, conceived by the Tile Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and the preservation of ceramic surfaces. The mural honors all who participate in and contribute to the tile industry and supports Tile Heritage's vital tile industry archiving work. 

Will you participate? 

Have you noticed the new CTEF logo? It's in two different flavors that both prominently feature the words "Qualified Labor, Certification and Tile Industry Recognized."

These words recognize that the CTEF installer certification programs (i.e., CTI and ACT) are tile industry recognized and define a tile installer with those designations as being ‘Qualified Labor.’

Let's explore in more detail.

If you spend time with anyone involved in the proper installation of ceramic tile, the TCNA Handbook for Ceramic, Glass, and Stone Tile Installation will be the focal point of the conversation.  Why? Because this useful guide assists in clarifying and standardizing installation specifications for tile.

In addition to providing a selection of numbered installation "methods" for differentiating and easy reference, the Handbook includes various product selection guides for ceramic, glass, and stone tiles; guidelines for wet areas; field and installation requirements, and more.

Produced by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), the TCNA Handbook for Ceramic, Glass, and Stone Tile Installation has been published on a continuous basis since 1963. 

Here's an overview.

Thanks to tile industry leaders like Harold Yarborough, President and CEO of D&B Tile Distributors in Florida and member of the CTEF Board of Directors, CTEF is able to bring to life and grow its mission and tile certification: