Wet Room Materials Now BIID & SBID Members

Wet Room Materials are delighted to have recently become members of the BIID and SBID. These are names that many are familiar with. However, sometimes it’s helpful to indulge in a quick reminder of what these organisations do and why they matter to our clients. Today, we raise a toast to these bastions of architecture and interior design, and outline how our partnerships help to achieve our organisational vision.

BIID: the British Institute of Interior Design

With a mission statement of “encouraging and supporting creativity and competence”, the BIID is focused upon professional development, professional support, and best practice within the realm of interior design. This is important in any design arena, but in the case of wet rooms it is particularly vital. That’s because working with water requires detailed understanding of screeds, tanking membranes, adhesives, drainage, and mechanics, as well as legal issues regarding health and safety. If there is a design area where regulation makes sense, wet rooms would be the one, and our clients can feel safe in the knowledge that these basic principles are fully regulated.

It’s all about collaboration and integrity

Focused on building a collaborative network, the BIID believes that shared knowledge is the key to building healthy foundations within the design and architecture industry. Moreover, this is strongly governed by quality. BIID membership requires meeting all 32 criteria, which include CDM, health and safety, and planning capabilities. The BIID is also highly focused upon professional etiquette and integrity. Any company that carries their affiliation must operate with dignity. It may be a slightly archaic sounding notion, but at Wet Room Materials we take great care in our professional service, and the BIID’s integrity-driven membership is a way of celebrating and honouring that. Relationships with clients matter, and the BIID supports that crucial dynamic.

SBID: Society of British and International Interior Design

In Europe, the European Council of Interior Architects (ECIA) is the body responsible for regulating and promoting excellence within the interior design profession. This concerns codes of ethics, professional standards and conduct, CPD, and best practice, as well as overall improvement within the industry. The UK representative of the ECIA is the SIBD. Liaising closely with the team in Brussels, the SBID is able to accredit interior designers in line with the ECIA’s International Professional Code of Conduct. For clients, this ultimately results in peace of mind.

It’s all about close scrutiny

According to the SIBD, the body: “is about more than politics and regulations; it is about providing our members with the insight to ensure their career or business is sustainable and robust enough to achieve long-term success.”

In other words, SIBD membership means offering an organisation up to close scrutiny. At Wet Room Materials, which has developed its organisational vision and strategy over an eighteen-year history, SIBD accreditation brings with it recognition that our passion, dedication, and commitment to CPD has been worth the effort. Importantly, the SIBD currently accredits design companies from 45 countries, so our multicultural blend of Danish engineers and British and Irish strategists is in good company.

In combination with the BIID, SBID membership equates to a formal stamp of approval that every aspect of our working practice is to the highest standard. Looking forward, it means that Wet Room Materials is well supported, well-connected, and well-positioned.

Closing Thoughts

Wet rooms remain high-end luxury design features. However, they are no longer rarities. Since Wet Room Materials was first formed, this little-known Scandinavian design technique has started to enter the mainstream. For us, it means the opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients and environments. It means pushing boundaries, innovating, and exploring. We’re delighted that affiliation with the BIID and SBID means that we have the perfect partnerships going forwards into 2019 and beyond.

Important update to the NHBS Specifications 2018

Backing surfaces for tiling should;

• Be moisture resistant, where frequent wetting occurs 

When Tiling; 

• Proprietary water-resistant grouting should be used in accordance with the manufacturer 

Grouting should be: 

• As specified in the design including mix and colour 
• Cement-based, epoxy resin or a proprietary product 
• ‘Waterproof in and around shower enclosures and where tiling can be saturated’. 

Gypsum plaster should not be used where; 

• ‘Repeated or persistent wetting may occur’