Working life

What about the working life of nora® floorcoverings?

A long working life means a long period of use and a conservation of resources because of the relatively infrequent need for renewal and disposal of both nora® products and the auxiliaries required for laying.

nora® floorcoverings are extremely tough and wear-resistant. That gives them a working life far above the average of other resilient floorcoverings. Because of their durability, rubber floorcoverings are preferred in areas with heavy traffic.

Cleaning and care

What about the cleaning and care of nora® floorcoverings?

The benefit of the closed surface, typical for nora® rubber floorcoverings, combined with «nora cleanguard®», the surface finishing through post-curing of all nora® rubber floorcoverings, permits easy and economic cleaning.

The extremely hard wearing nature of the floorcoverings offers a whole series of benefits in care and maintenance. There is no need for coating and therefore:

Indoor-Air-Quality

Do nora® floorcoverings emit dangerous substances when in use and do these substances affect indoor air?

The quality of indoor air has become increasingly important to users in the past few years. nora systems has been dealing with the emission aspects of building materials for many years. nora® floorcoverings are regularly emission-tested by independent institutions.

The composition of nora® floorcoverings prevents the emission of substances in toxic concentrations. The toxicological safety of nora® rubber floorcoverings was tested by the Austrian Plastics Institute (ÖKI). Comprehensive test reports have confirmed the toxicological safety of norament® 925 and noraplan® floorcoverings, which represent many other nora® floorcoverings with similar composition, in residential and working spaces.

The Swedish National Testing and Research Institute SP measured only low emissions in noraplan® floorcoverings in its long-term tests which covered 26 weeks.

In addition, many floorcoverings of the nora® floorcovering portfolio are certified by the US GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI). GEI is a world-wide acknowledged institute focusing on a "healthy indoor climate". The institute administers the GREENGUARD certification programme and publishes tested building materials and products with low emission values. All certified products are regularly subjected to emission measurements.

The criteria relevant to health and environment are tested by the Austrian Research Institute (ofi) and confirmed by the "quality label for resilient floorcoverings".

A further testing of the finished products is performed by the Institut Fresenius Chemische und Biologische Laboratorien AG, Taunussstein Germany, within the scope of a comprehensive quality label contract.

Behaviour in the event of fire

How do nora® floorcoverings behave in the event of fire?

nora® rubber floorcoverings do not contain any PVC or halogens (e.g. chlorine). In the event of fire, no hydrochloric gas is released which might lead to caustic burns of the respiratory tract. Hydrochloric gas and fire fighting water combine to produce hydrochloric acid which damages buildings, machinery, and electrical contacts even beyond the immediate seat of the fire. Such consequences of the combustion of PVC are often more severe than the actual fire damage itself.

The absence of halogens also means that no toxic, halogenated dioxins and furans are produced when nora® floorcoverings are burned. With a few function-related exceptions, nora® floorcoverings are flame-retardant according to DIN 4102, Part 1, or DIN EN 13 501 or the equivalent international standards such as e.g. ASTM E648, E662.

In one part of the floorcoverings, the gasses produced in a fire are classified as toxicologically acceptable under DIN 4102. Special flameproof grades may, with the approval of the fire safety authorities, also be used where non-flammable materials are required.