Natural Stone Foundation Provides Financial Support to Global Standards Initiative
OBERLIN, OH -- The Natural Stone Institute (NSI) has received a grant from the Natural Stone Foundation to assist in offsetting 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 the U.S.), with another 10 national standards bodies observing. NSI 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.
“As the philanthropic arm of the NSI, the Natural Stone Foundation provides funding supporting globally unified standards for the natural stone industry,” said 2024 Natural Stone Foundation President Kevin Camarata of Camarata Masonry Systems. “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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