Vinyl flooring jargon 401

The last part in our series debunks the acronyms that are used in the industry and includes new additions that were introduced with the inception of FITA. Download the full Guide for vinyl flooring jargon here.

An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components in a phrase or a word, and often just serves to confuse.

I caught up with Tandy Coleman, Polyflor CEO, to find out more about the the acronyms that she uses on a regular basis and considers important for the vinyl flooring industry.

PART 4

Vinyl flooring industry organisation acronyms

• SAVA [Southern African Vinyl Association]: SAVA is a representative body for the local PVC industry fulfilling an active role in the sustainability of the industry.  With the support of its members, SAVA addresses PVC related issues and constructively engages with stakeholders and role-players to create a positive environment for a vibrant and sustainable PVC industry.
  
• GBCSA [Green Building Council of South Africa]: The GBCSA leads the transformation of the South African property industry to ensure that buildings are designed, built and operated in an environmentally sustainable way.
  
  
• FITA [Flooring Industry Training Association]: The formation of FITA in South Africa has arisen due to new legislation regarding the training and registration of artisans, as well as a desperate need for newly skilled artisans in the flooring industry.  FITA’s mandate is to represent the industry and assume the role of the official facilitator for the accredited training and registration of flooring installers nationally.
  
  Their vision is to provide the flooring industry with accredited training and to implement a national register of installers throughout South Africa.  Their objective is to facilitate the accreditation of flooring installers through CETA certified training providers, with learnerships, recognition of prior learning and short skills programmes.
  
  
• CETA [Construction Education and Training Authority]: The Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) was established in April 2000.  Its primary objective is to influence the course of training and skills development in the construction industry by ensuring that all training reflects the needs and requirement of the sector.
  
  The CETA initiates skills projects and learnerships aimed at improving and developing South Africa’s human resources, including a construction workforce whose skills are recognised and valued in terms of the National Qualification Frameworks(NQF).  The CETA is accredited as an Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) body by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) on behalf of the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).
  
  The ETQA status authorises the CETA to accredit and monitor both training and training providers. To facilitate the provision of training, the CETA uses discretionary money at its disposal to fund projects whose aim is to achieve its qualitative and quantitative obligations in terms of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS).
  
  
• SETA [Sector Education and Training Authority]: The members of a SETA include employers, trade unions, government departments and bargaining councils where relevant, from each industrial sector.
  
  
• NQF [National Qualification Frameworks]: The National Qualifications Framework is the system that records levels of learning achievement to ensure that the skills and knowledge that have been learned are recognised throughout the country.
  
  
• ETQA [Education and Training Quality Assurance]: ETQA is the quality assurance body within the SETA whose purpose is the monitoring and auditing of achievements in terms of standards or qualifications registered on the NQF.  The ETQAs report to SAQA.
  
  The function of the ETQA is to accredit providers of education and training, promote quality among providers of education and training, monitor provision by such providers, evaluate assessment and the facilitation of moderation among providers, register assessors for specific NQF standards and qualifications, certify candidates, undertake audits of provider’s quality systems, cooperate with bodies appointed to moderate across education and training quality assurance bodies and maintain a database acceptable to SAQA.
  
  
• SAQA [South African Qualifications Authority]: The South African Qualifications Authority is a statutory body, regulated in terms of the National Qualifications Framework. It is made up of 29 members appointed by the Minister of Education in consultation with the Minister of Labour. SAQA is mandated by legislation to oversee the development and implementation of the National Qualifications Framework.
  
  
• QCTO [Quality Council for Trades and Occupations]: The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) is a Quality Council established in 2010 in terms of the Skills Development Act. Its role is to oversee the design, implementation, assessment and certification of occupational qualifications on the Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework.
  
  The QCTO is one of three Quality Councils responsible for a part of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Collectively, the Quality Councils and the South African Qualifications Authority (whose role is to advance the objectives of the NQF and oversee its development and implementation), all work for the good of both learners and employers. Another important role for the QCTO is to offer guidance to service providers who must be accredited by the QCTO to offer occupational qualifications.  Their vision is to qualify a skilled and capable workforce, to effectively and efficiently manage the occupational qualifications sub-framework in order to set standards, develop and quality assure national occupational qualifications for all who want a trade or occupation and, where appropriate, professions.
  
  
• NSDS [National Skills Development Strategy]: The NSDS is the overarching strategic guide for skills development and provides direction to sector skills planning and implementation in the SETAs.
  
  There is a distinct difference between certification and standards bodies, and that confusion needs to be cleared up when referring to each one’s individual roles and their very specific functions.
  
  
• SABS [South African Bureau of Standards]: The SABS is a certification body that is accredited by SANS. It is therefore incorrect to refer to the SABS as a standard, as it is a testing and certification body who is allowed to sample and test products and certify a producer’s product to a specific SANS standard, through their SANS accreditation.
  
  
• SANS [South African Nation Standards]: SANS, on the other hand, refers to a standard that specifies the performance requirements of a specific product.  A SANS standard may be either locally written or created by adopting an international (usually ISO) standard.
  
  One of the possible reasons for this misunderstanding might be due to the fact that the SABS was involved with the writing, development and distribution of specification in years gone by. These specifications were national specification which were published as SABS specifications.
  
  
• ISO [The International Organization for Standardisation]: ISO is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations.
  
  

Download the definitive guide to vinyl flooring jargon, where we delve into all the jargon used in the flooring industry.

The guide aims to categorise and demystify some of the flooring terminology and acronyms to make it easier to understand and work with vinyl flooring products.