Chapter 19 - Sourcing and Researching Manufacturer's Information for FF&E

Question 1

do commercial website provide current data on their product?

Answer 1

no- if unbiased information is needed to compare several manufacturers of the same product type, another source should be selected

Question 2

good independent data websites that give side-by-side comparisons of products

Answer 2

Trade Only Design Library
Contract Design Magazine
Material Connexion

Question 3

another good resource for comparison information of products?

Answer 3

trade associations like BIFMA, AWI, WCMA (Window Covering Manufacturers Association)

Question 4

what do trade associations produce?

Answer 4

accurate and often voluminous information for little to no cost. sometimes these guidelines and standards developed by trade organizations are adopted as industry standards that become the bench mark against which the quality of manufacture and installation is compared

Question 5

where can a complete list of trade organizations be found?

Answer 5

Encyclopedia of Associations, published by Gale, and through links provided by other industry resource websites

Question 6

what about a database of articles?

Answer 6

The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals is good. it is subscription based but may be available at no cost through an architectural library or large public reference library

Question 7

what about to research industry standards?

Answer 7

go to ASTM or ANSI’s website