adacarpet · Studio reference
Carpet Specification Guide for Hospitality, Residential and Workplace Briefs
A carpet brief is only useful if the mill, the designer and the procurement team are answering the same questions. This is the information ADA asks for at the start of a project, and the order in which the answers become useful.
Name the setting and the use
A hotel corridor, a living room and an open office place different demands on the same square metre. State the project type, the room or area, whether the piece is fixed or movable, and who will walk on it. Mention any building constraints that affect installation, such as lift dimensions or delivery access times, because a large rug that cannot reach the floor is a problem no specification can solve later.
Construction, backing and pile
Ask for the construction, the backing and the pile description in writing. These three items travel with the piece through sampling, approval and delivery, and each one changes how the carpet behaves underfoot and in place. Where a collection page shows a hand-finished piece or an artwork reference, ask which of the two applies to the proposed item. Do not carry an assumption across from a photograph.
Required performance evidence
If the project has performance requirements, name them and ask for the evidence that matches. Fire performance, acoustic behaviour and contract use are project-specific requirements, and the evidence has to exist as a document for the item proposed. ADA does not treat the whole catalogue as carrying any one rating. The brief should state what the building authority, the operator or the client needs to see, and the response should say what can be provided for that item.
Dimensions, quantity and location
Give the finished dimensions, the number of pieces, and where each one goes. Note the reference size on the design record and say whether the project needs that size or another. A catalogue size is a reference figure and does not describe what is available from stock. For custom sizes, state the tolerance the site can accept and whether the outline must follow a wall, a column or a change in floor level.
Cleaning needs belong in the brief
Say how the space will be maintained and who will do it. A building with a contract cleaning team and a residence cleaned by its occupants produce different questions. If the site has restrictions on cleaning methods, equipment or drying time, put them in the brief so that fibre and backing can be discussed against them, rather than adjusted after the carpet has been made.
Drawing, sample and specification travel together
Keep the room drawing, the approved sample and the written specification in one set, and check them against each other before approval. The drawing settles size and position. The sample settles colour and surface. The specification settles fibre, backing, pile, construction and quantity. When one of the three changes, the other two are reviewed with it. Reviewing the set together helps resolve inconsistencies before production.