Hardwood Flooring Specification for a Project Tender: A Template

A tender specification for a wood floor has two readers with different needs. The contractor needs to know what to price and install. The factory that will make the floor needs to know exactly what to build, sample and inspect. A specification that says “engineered oak, wide plank, light natural finish” serves neither: every bidder fills the gaps differently, and the comparison between bids stops being fair. This article sets out how architects and specifiers can write a flooring specification that a made-to-order factory can quote line by line, with a template at the end.

Two halves: appearance and performance

A useful flooring specification separates what the floor must look like from what it must do.

• Appearance covers species, grade, grain, format, width, length, color, texture, sheen and edge profile. These are judged by eye, so they are best fixed against a physical reference sample.
• Performance and construction cover the build: solid or engineered, overall thickness, wear layer, core type, profile, finish system, and any emission or market requirement such as CARB Phase 2 for composite wood entering the U.S. market.

Keeping the two apart makes substitution easier to judge. A bidder can propose a different core that meets the performance clauses without changing the look, or a different color route that matches the reference without changing the build.

Write construction in terms a factory can build

Name the construction rather than describing it:

• Solid: one piece of oak through the full thickness, with no core. Best suited to narrower boards and projects where repeated sanding is a priority.
• 2-layer engineered: a sawn oak wear layer bonded to a stable plywood core. Practical where floor height is limited, and common for herringbone and chevron.
• 3-layer engineered: a wear layer over a cross-layered core with a backing layer, suited to wider boards and larger open areas.

Then give the overall thickness and wear layer as numbers, for example 3/4” (20mm) overall with a 6mm sawn wear layer. If the design allows a range, say so and state the minimum wear layer you will accept. A specifier who leaves construction open should at least state the subfloor, the installation method and any floor height limit, because those decide which constructions are suitable. Our article on installation methods explains how that choice shapes the build.

Write appearance so it can be inspected

Words such as “clean”, “warm” or “natural” mean different things to each bidder. Replace them with named options and a reference:

• Grade by name, with a description: Premium, Select, Natural or Rustic. Our guide to oak flooring grades gives the definitions.
• Grain stated separately from grade: rift and quarter, plain sawn or mixed.
• Format and dimensions: plank with random or fixed length, herringbone with block width and length from the drawings, chevron with the angle (45° or 30°), or parquet to the drawing.
• Color as a physical reference: a sample board issued with the tender, a fan deck reference, or a library code such as VU-NR-044 Oak Beige.
• Texture and sheen by name: for example Medium Wire Brushed, Extra Matte.
• Edge profile: tongue and groove on all four sides, or square edge where the design calls for it.

The most effective single clause in a flooring tender is often this: “Color, grade range, texture and sheen to match the reference sample held by the architect.” It gives every bidder the same target and gives the inspector something physical to check against.

Ask for submittals that prove the specification

The submittals clause decides what you receive before any flooring is made. Useful requests:

1. Product data stating construction, thickness, wear layer, profile and finish system.
2. Physical samples made with the intended production finish, labeled with the full specification, and showing the grade range rather than a single board.
3. Compliance documents for the destination market, for example the CARB Phase 2 certification for the composite core, with the certifier and certificate number.
4. Shop drawings for herringbone, chevron, parquet and borders, showing pattern direction and border details.
5. Packing and labeling details, including how production lots are kept together.

Our article on CARB P2, JAS and NWFA explains what each reference covers and which documents to ask for.

Leave installation limits to the right parties

A flooring specification often strays into numbers that belong to someone else. Moisture limits for the subfloor, acclimation, adhesive selection, radiant heating limits and expansion gaps are set by the installer, the adhesive maker and the heating system maker, usually with reference to published industry guidance such as that of the NWFA. The flooring specification should require that these are followed and documented, rather than inventing its own values. The factory’s part is to supply boards that match the approved sample, the stated dimensions and the stated construction.

Quantities and alternates

• Give quantity by area and by product. If the project uses plank in the rooms and herringbone in the hall, list each with its own area. One total hides two different products.
• State who carries the waste allowance. The installer or contractor normally calculates it from the layout.
• Allow alternates in a controlled way. If a bidder may propose a different width or construction, ask for it as a priced alternate with its own sample, not as a silent substitution.
• Mixed formats in one color. More than one format can be produced within one order under the same approved color reference. Say so if the design depends on it.

Tender specification template

Adapt each line to the project. The point is that every line can be answered with a name or a number, and checked on a sample or at inspection.

Common gaps in flooring tenders

• A color described in words, with no physical reference
• Grade and grain merged into one adjective
• A single area for a project that mixes formats
• No wear layer stated for an engineered floor
• Texture and sheen left out, or described only as “natural”
• Installation limits written into the product clause instead of left to the installer

Our RFQ checklist lists the same decisions from the buyer’s side, and can be used to check a draft before it is issued.

Working with Vu Uy Wood

Vu Uy Wood manufactures made-to-order solid and engineered French White Oak flooring in Song Than 3 Industrial Park, Ho Chi Minh City, and has done so since 2006. Specifiers can build a written specification on our Specify page and use it as a starting point for the flooring section of a tender. If you send drawings and a reference sample, they are reviewed together with the specification. We normally reply within one working day.