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Setting and Maintaining the Highest Professional Standard of Workmanship and Customer Service.

The Benefits of IICRC Certification to the Professional in the Cleaning, Restoration and Flooring Industry

Certification Sets You Apart as a Profesional cleaner, Restoration Specialist or Flooring Inspector.

You've heard of Certified Public Accountants, Plumbers and Auto Mechanics. These individuals project a higher level of competency in their respective fields. You also are familiar with standard-setting organizations, such as the American Medical and American Bar Associations. Service industries identify those who have strived, through training, practical experience and comprehensive examination, to set themselves apart as true professionals. IICRC is the cleaning, restoration and flooring inspection industry's certification and standard-setting organization.

International Logo for Consumer Confidence

Customers look for and trust symbols of technical proficiency and high ethical standards. The IICRC logo and uniform patches display your professionalism.

Stability in a Changing Marketplace

Cleaning, restoration and inspection companies are caught in a whirlwind of technological change. Only those individuals and companies committed to ongoing education, training, professional service and modem marketing will prosper in the service-oriented era.

Career Path for owners and Employees

Professional advancement is an important source of personal satisfaction. Education and training, the keys to meaningful work experience, are the best ways to motivate and retain employees.

Recognized by Carpet Manufacturers

As part of its commitment to industry-wide customer service, the IICRC actively pursues relationships with fiber producers, mills. Furnishing retailers and equipment and chemical manufacturers and suppliers. The use of IICRC Certified service professionals is specified in the leading manufacturers' maintenance brochures. Many dedicated professionals in these allied industries serve on the IICRC committees.

Categories of Certification

The IICRC offers certification in the following categories:

• Carpet Cleaning Technician
• Commercial Carpet Maintenance Technician
• Upholstery and Fabric Cleaning Technician
• Fire and Smoke Restoration Technician
• Water Damage Restoration Technician 
•  Applied Structural Drying Technician 
• Odor Control Technician
• Carpet Repair and Reinstallation Technician
• Color Repair Technician
• Health and Safety Technician
• Floor Care Technician
• Applied Microbial Remediation Specialist
• Senior Carpet Inspector
• Hard Flooring Inspector (Subfloor/Substrate, Ceramic Tile Marble/Stone, Resilient and Wood/Laminate)

Each category of certification has its own unique requirements and certifying process. In all cases, an individual must attend an IICRC approved school, successfully complete a written examination, and document his or her skills in the subject.

How to Become Certified

The IICRC' is a certifying organization, not a trade association, Certification is attained through successful completion of educational courses and examinations. The IICRC owns no schools, employs no instructors and produces no training materials. Instead, it approves schools and instructors meeting specific criteria established by the IICRC Certification Board.
The IICRC does not specify any particular cleaning method but encourages proficiency in all methods as outlined in the IICRC' Standards.

Standard-Setting Organization for Cleaning and Restoration Procedures

Through the development of certification course outlines and comprehensive examinations, the the IICRC has led the way in establishing procedural guidelines for inspection, cleaning and restoration work. These 'Standards' have been formalized with the issuance of four procedural reference guides.

• Carpet Cleaning Standard
  IICRCS 100 Standard Reference Guide for Professional on-location Cleaning of Installed Textile Floor Covering Materials
• Upholstery Cleaning Standard
  IICR S-300 Standard Reference Guide for Professional Upholstery and Fabric Cleaning 
•  Water Damage Restoration Standard
  IICRC S 500 Standard and Reference
  Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration 
•  Inspection Reference Guide
  IICRC Reference Guide for Inspection of Textile Floor Coverings

Certification Fees

First certification category: $25.00 registration fee plus $15.00 examination fee, or $40.00. Additional certification categories: $15.00 registration fee and $15.00 examination fee, or $30.00.

Certified Flooring Inspectors: $55.00 examination fee and $50.00 review fee. After completion of the review process, annual fees are $80.00 for those listed as 'Practicing' and $40.00 for those listed as 'Credentialed.'

In order to maintain IICRC certification, registrants are required to earn Continuing Education Credits (CECs) and pay an annual fee. Those fees are determined by the number of certifications the registrant has attained.

Once an individual has attended an IICRC approved course and successfully completed the comprehensive examination, he or she becomes an IICRC Certified Technician in the category that course represents. Being a Certified Technician is different front being a Certified Firm. Your company can apply for IICRC Firm status to receive many additional benefits.

Certified Firms agree to adhere to certain standards as a company, meet specific requirements and pay a fee to be listed on the IICRC WEB site at iicrc.org. and the IICRC Referral Line at 800-835-4624. Contact IICRC Headquarters at 360-693-5675 to request additional information and an IICRC Certified Firm application.

What is the IICRC?

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) is the certification registry and standard setting organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industry. It is the largest non-profit registry of inspectors, cleaners and restorers serving the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Australia. It is owned and controlled by regional and international trade associations. Thus tire IICRC represents the entire industry.

The IICRC was established in 1972 to provide a means by which professionals could receive generic training and become certified. Today, the IICRC is recognized as the impartial certification body for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industry. Independents and franchisees throughout the world are tested and certified through the IICRC.

Students who attend an IICRC-approved school and pay the appropriate fee are eligible to take certification exams and become IICRC Certified in the category that class covers.

IICRC Certification is an ongoing process that must be renewed annually by earning IICRC approved Continuing Education Credits (CECs). In addition, registrants pledge to adhere to the IICRC Code of Ethics.

Simply stated, the IICRC's purpose is to set industry standards. establish required course work, grant 'accreditation' of schools and instructors, administer uniform testing and maintain an up-to-date registry of certified professionals. It certifies that individuals within the industry meet prescribed levels of proficiency based on training, education and experience.

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