CFI History

The International Certified Floorcovering Installers Association, Inc. (CFI), is a nonprofit, trade organization devoted to floorcovering installers, both independent installers and members of other organizations.

CFI’s mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of installers and their families through sharing flooring installation training in a “hands-on” atmosphere, providing business skills and increasing pride and professionalism. Annually, approximately 50 programs occur in the USA and South Africa. Since 1993, the CFI Team of Trainers has volunteered their time, money and knowledge to help others help themselves. The enthusiasm for doing this continues to grow. The organization provides educational resources for the industry through inspection, installation, estimating, product knowledge, patterned and woven carpet, hardwood, ceramic, laminate and resilient flooring training. CFI provides teams of skilled craftsmen to assist when called upon for installations by dealers and manufacturers. The majority of manufacturer’s technical representatives are members of CFI

CFI has a proven track record of teaching safety and professional excellence to floorcovering installers and industry professionals within its sphere of immediate influence.

CFI is recognized worldwide for training. Students from across the United States and many nations, including Japan, Africa, China, Germany and other European nations, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico have participated in the CFI method of training and, to date, CFI has trained over 40,000 installers. CFI has established four (4) carpet training centers in South Africa working with Belgotex Carpet where over 4,000 carpet installers have been trained in the CFI curriculum.

Partnerships exist with Armstrong, the National Wood Flooring Association and the North American Laminate Floor Association for CFI to administer their programs for installers and sales associates. CFI has also developed a partnership with Mohawk for carpet installation training and certification.

The CFI has a six-level certification structure for installers. CFI provides rigorous "hands on" training in proven methods of installation, and supports the professional development of installers by offering training courses, seminars, written and video training materials and the means of interacting with and learning from experienced professionals in the floorcovering industry in a professional capacity.

CFI also offers numerous Technical Memberships applied to those who are not installers, but desire the training and knowledge associated with the installation trade to better identify problems in the workplace. These are persons generally associated with a manufacturer, retailer or a contract establishment.

The Inspector Membership is open to those who attend the required educational events and complete the written tests in order to inspect the work provided by the Installers if a problem arises. The Associate Membership is open to all industry-related entities to hold the same desire to improve the condition of floorcovering installation.

Over 30 individual CFI local chapters exist in various communities throughout the nation whereby the installer, retailer and associated individuals band together to promote quality floor covering installation and conduct training events. The National Office is located in Kansas City, Missouri.