| Term | Definition |
| AIA | American Institute of Architects: – The Largest organization of recognized architects in the United States. |
| ASTM | ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services |
| Beam | A piece of timber, steel, or other material placed horizontally to support a load over an opening from post to post (column to column). |
| Bearing | Any characteristic part of a building (wall, column, etc.) which supports part of the weight of the structure. A wall is often spoken of as a “bearing-wall” whenever it supports weight other than itself. |
| BTU | British Thermal unit. A measure of heat used to describe the capacity of furnaces, water heaters and heating units. |
| Cantilevered | That portion of a structure which projects beyond its own support is cantilevered. |
| Column | A vertical wood, steel, stone or concrete shaft, pillar or support, free-standing, supporting the portion of the structure above it. |
| Combustible | Having a flash point of 80-150 degrees F. |
| Countersink | To drive a nail or screw flush or just below the surface. |
| Ease Of Cleaning | Most dependent on the porosity of the surface which provides voids for dirt entrapment, presence of surface coatings, uniform coverage of the coating, and toughness of the surface coating to stand-up to wear and maintenance routines. |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency. |
| Estimate | A preliminary cost figure prepared by contractors or other to give a job owner and/or architect a rough idea of the cost of a completed building |
| Footing | The spreading course or courses at the base or bottom of a foundation wall, pier or column. |
| Foundation | The structural portion of a building or wall below the first floor construction, including the footings. |
| Framing | The rough timberwork of a structure including the walls, floors, roof, ceiling and the beams and studs which make up these various parts. |
| Frick-Taber Abrasion Tester | An abrasion tester which uses a leather-covered wheel on a rotating stage and an apparatus which deposits grit onto the sample and removes it each revolution. No standards exist in the U S which specify limits for abrasion resistance with this tester. Because weight loss is one of the measurements made with the tester, very soft materials can fair well, because they pick up the grit and do not appear to lose weight. On harder materials, this tester represents the actual foot traffic wear mechanism very well; this was concluded by an independent research effort in Europe |
| Jamb | The side of a doorway, door frame or window. |
| Joist | A small timber to which the boards of a floor or the laths of a ceiling are nailed. Joists rest on the walls or on girders. |
| Level | A surface or line with all points at the same elevation. Horizontally straight. |
| Light Reflectivity | The characteristics of a material which determines the degree or amount of light which will be reflected from its surface from any given angle. |
| Organic | Having been living at one time (like petroleum, crude oil, coal, wood, etc.) or derived from living materials and/or containing carbon and hydrogen atoms; primarily relates to plastics being derived from petroleum. |
| Oxidation | The combination of a substance with oxygen. |
| Performance- Rated Panel | Panel products designed and engineered to meet performance criteria for specific end-use applications. |
| Pot Life | The amount of time an adhesive remains useable in the container once it has been mixed or opened. Normally used in reference to products which are mixed together such as epoxy adhesives or portland-based underlayments and patches. |
| Ramp | An inclined plane connecting two different levels and used instead of steps, elevators or conveyors. |
| Residential Flooring | Flooring designed for use in home settings. |
| Resiliency | The ability of a material to resume it’s former shape after mechanical deformation. |
| Resilient Floor | A nontextile floor surfacing material made in sheet or tile form or formed in place. Materials include but are not limited to asphalt, cork, linoleum, rubber, vinyl, vinyl composition, and poured polymeric systems. |
| Section | A drawing showing in a vertical plane the internal heights and details of the various parts of a building. |
| Specifications | The detailed selections of the architect, covering all of the material and labor methods to be used in erecting a building. Usually prescribe types of material, sources, and often lists method of application or installation. |
| Studs | The small vertical timbers (usually 2″ x 4″ or 2″ x 6″) used in partitions and exterior frame walls to which the weatherboarding and lath are nailed. |
| Terrazzo | A type of mosaic flooring made by embedding small pieces of marble, granite, glass or onyx in freshly placed mortar. The surface is usually hardened, ground, and polished. |
| Trim | The finishing details finally added to a house interior or exterior such as window and door casing. |
| Truss | A framework, resting on a bearing wall or support at each end, used for supporting a roof or some other load. |
| TSP | Tri Sodium Phosphate. Commonly used to remove surface contaminates from substrates. |
| VOC | Volatile Organic Compounds |