The organization performing compliance verification sets the periodic retest interval for electrostatic discharge (ESD) flooring and records it in its compliance verification plan. Section 7.4 of the ESD Association’s S20.20-2021 program standard requires that plan to identify what is tested and how often; it does not supply a numerical floor-retest interval. The foreword to ESD TR53-01-22, the ESD Association’s technical report on compliance verification, recommends selecting intervals according to how critical the ESD control items are to the organization’s ESD control program.
How the retest interval is set
ANSI/ESD S20.20-2021 section 7.4
ANSI/ESD S20.20-2021 is the ESD Association’s program standard, approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Section 7.4 requires a compliance verification plan that identifies the ESD control items to be tested periodically and how often they are tested.
ESD TR53-01-22 foreword
The informative foreword to ESD TR53-01-22 is explanatory introductory material and is not part of the technical report itself. It states that organizations performing the report’s compliance verification procedures must determine the time intervals between compliance verification. It recommends basing those intervals on how critical the ESD control items are to the organization’s ESD control program.
Where to find your floor’s testing frequency
Start with your facility’s ESD compliance verification plan. It should identify the applicable periodic testing frequency. If the floor’s frequency is missing or unclear, ask the person responsible for the ESD control program to establish and document it, considering how critical the floor is to the ESD control program. The cited provisions do not supply a default interval to fill that gap.
If your facility does not have a documented plan, contact Craftsman Concrete Floors for help developing an ESD floor testing plan around your flooring system, operating conditions, and applicable ESD program requirements.
For broader scheduling considerations, see ESD Floor Retesting: Intervals and Event Triggers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Neither ANSI/ESD S20.20-2021 section 7.4 nor the ESD TR53-01-22 foreword gives a numerical retest interval for ESD flooring. Section 7.4 requires the compliance verification plan to identify the ESD control items tested periodically and their test frequency.
The informative ESD TR53-01-22 foreword says that the organization performing the verification procedures must determine the intervals. It recommends basing them on how critical the ESD control items are to the organization’s ESD control program. The foreword is not part of the technical report itself.