Natural Stone Foundation Grants Funding to Global Standards Initiative
Contact:
Natural Stone Institute
(440) 250-9222
networking@naturalstoneinstitute.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oberlin, OH, December 3, 2024 — The Natural Stone Institute has received a grant from the Natural Stone Foundation to help offset ongoing costs for the ISO Technical Committee 327’s work to establish a global set of standards for natural stone. The first standard will be published in 2025.
ISO Technical Committee 327 on Natural Stones is working to create a uniform set of standards for natural stone for members of ISO in over 150 countries. The committee currently has 13 global participating members (Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States), with another 10 national standards bodies observing. The Natural Stone Institute is working alongside ANSI, the official secretariat of this initiative. NSI Technical Director Chuck Muehlbauer currently serves as chair of the committee, while Test Laboratory Manager Scott Scallorn chairs the US TAG committee and a working group on test methods, offering additional input to the committee.
TC 327 is nearing completion of its first set of deliverables: global standards for stone testing and terminology. These standards will bring clarity to what governing documents and standards should be used when natural stone is utilized in a project involving multiple countries (for example: quarried in one country, fabricated in a second, and installed in a third). The ISO standards would be vital in this example, versus an instance where a product was quarried, fabricated, and installed in a single country.
2024 Natural Stone Foundation president Kevin Camarata (Camarata Masonry Systems) commented: “As the philanthropic arm of the Natural Stone Institute, the Natural Stone Foundation provides funding supporting globally unified standards for the natural stone industry. The ISO initiative is a multi-year effort that will ultimately benefit all participants by creating a globally uniform set of standards, nomenclature, and terms of business. It will alleviate misunderstandings about requirements and responsibilities and will provide a single global standard that will be used as a governing guide for all things natural stone.”
To learn more about NSI’s ISO initiative, visit www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/ISO.
This initiative is one of several industry initiatives funded by the Foundation. The Foundation also provided funding for NSI’s Silica & Slab Safety Certificate, which provides important training resources for employees in the industry. This resource has been widely utilized since launching in late 2023. A Spanish version of the certificate is set to debut in early 2025. To learn more about the Natural Stone Foundation’s grant program, visit www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/foundationgrants.
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The Natural Stone Institute is a trade association representing every aspect of the natural stone industry. The current membership exceeds 2,000 members in over 50 nations. The association offers a wide array of technical and training resources, professional development opportunities, regulatory advocacy, and networking events. Two prominent publications—the Dimension Stone Design Manual and Building Stone Magazine—raise awareness within the natural stone industry and in the design community for best practices and uses of natural stone. Learn more at www.naturalstoneinstitute.org.
About the Natural Stone Foundation
The Natural Stone Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Natural Stone Institute. Its mission is to serve the natural stone industry by financially supporting initiatives and services important to industry stakeholders. Funding received from the Foundation allows the Natural Stone Institute to produce educational programming, scholarships, and advocacy for the use of natural stone. Learn more at www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/foundation.
