IGI | The Global Wallcoverings Association

WELCOME TO IGI – The Global Wallcoverings Association

IGI, the Global Wallcoverings Association, is a world-wide not-for-profit organisation with the mission to increase the ability of wallcovering industry members to solve their business problems by providing a forum for discussion, disseminating information, and representing the industry before government and standards bodies in order to facilitate the establishment and the promotion of industry standards.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Belgium, the members of IGI represent the main players of the wallcovering industry – manufacturers and suppliers – active in the five continents of the world. IGI members are committed to cooperation in addressing common goals and issues such as ethical practices, quality standards, functionality, and innovation.

IGI is recognised as a valuable, comprehensive and authoritative information source on the wallcovering industry.

BENEFITS

Whether it be external challenges from new competitors in the global market place, or labour or regulatory issues, conducting business has become a much more complex affair to manage.

Joining IGI will give you the opportunity to receive strategic information and to network with knowledgeable professionals from your industry sector.

Click here to view the 2022 Membership Brochure

IGI is committed to meeting your business needs.

Objectives

Establish standards of commercial practice and product performance to protect and further the interest of consumers, traders and manufacturers,
Promote excellence in the standards of materials and workmanship in the products of the industry,
Conduct technical research and market studies,
Organize technical and marketing seminars,
Participate in international exhibitions.

Services provided by IGI are regularly reviewed in order to match the evolving expectations of the association’s membership.

to become a Member !

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Information

Annual Market Statistics Report – Published once/year
Information collated on the worldwide production and consumption of wallcoverings, including imports, exports and domestic usage in various countries. The annual statistics show trends over the 5 previous years.
Improvements are continuously being made to expand the number of reporting countries to improve collection and reliability of data and to include new categories as new products enter the market place.
Industry Opinion Survey – Conducted up to twice/year
The findings will provide participating companies with valuable information about the wallcoverings industry covering the past and current year as well as trends and forecast.
Operating Ratios Benchmarking Study – Pubished every other year
The study looks at a range of carefully chosen performance measures covering all the main areas of a company’s operations. There are sections on profitability, operating costs, employee productivity and asset utilisation together with a short written summary of all the main findings and trends.
The aim of the IGI Benchmarking Project is to help companies improve profitability by providing a systematic method for participants to compare their own results with those of other leading wallcovering manufacturers from across the industry.
IGI offers participation without charge to IGI members.

Meetings

Annual Congress – once a year
The opportunity to meet informally with industry colleagues, and to gather information about industry trends, new techniques and retailing initiatives etc.
The Congress format emphasises interactive programmes, and includes value-added speakers.
IGI offers preferred Members and Associate Members registration fees.
Technical Conference – every 3 year
Targeted to the production and technical staff of the member companies, the Technical Conference provides a forum for sharing new techniques and developments within the wallcoverings production process.

Communication

E-Newsletter
Published every other month and distributed via electronic mail, the newsletter keeps members informed on EU legislation affecting the industry, standards and any other relevant industry news.
Website
IGI’s website provides quick and easy access to industry information and services.
Using a specific password, IGI members have access to the “members only” section where they can download the latest market and industry reports.

Certification

IGI Mark
IGI is determined that rolls of wallcoverings should be governed by a system of control that will ensure they do not cause any problems for the consumer or the world at large. IGI has therefore established the ground rules for a quality assurance system that is applicable worldwide. IGI proposes to act as the monitoring body for the award of a distinctive symbol that can be used on rolls and packaging to indicate that the product conforms to these rules.
IGI offers a preferred Members fee to cover the sample testing.
IGI Member – Fee First Year: 1.500 Euro
IGI Member – Renewal Fee/Year: 995Euro

Liaison with other bodies

CEN
The European Standardisation Body has granted IGI with a liaison status to the Technical Committee on Wallcoverings (TC 99 ) and on Dangerous Substances (TC 351). Meetings are regularly attended, and members kept updated on the development of standards.

BECOME A MEMBER

Member:

Individual companies may become members of IGI providing that they:

are a legal entity according to the law in their country,
are currently in membership of an existing National Association of Wallcovering manufacturers, or are manufacturers of wallcoverings (see Brussels Nomenclature -Chapter 48.14), or flexible wallcovering,
produce and market a recognised collection of wallcoverings under a trade name.

The 2023 annual membership fee is 3.330 euros.
The 2023 annual Branch/Sister Company Membership fee is 450 euros.

Associate Member:

Companies may become associate members of IGI providing that they are suppliers to the wallcovering industry.

The 2023 annual associate membership fee is 3.975 euros.
The 2023 annual Associate Branch/Sister Company Membership fee is 590 euros.

Junior Member:
Information available on demand.

to become a Member !
Upon receipt of your application, it will be submitted to the IGI Executive Committee for official acceptance.

Declaration of Performance (DoP) and CE mark

Manufacturers have reported concern that some wallcovering products are being placed on the market in the EU without Declaration of Performance or CE mark. It is not known whether this is through ignorance of the requirements of the Construction Products Regulation or exploitation of a derogation (Article 5) in the CPR.

Previous advice from IGI indicated that individual product offered on the internet as custom made and supplied direct to the user may use this derogation. A recent proposal from BSI by two experts on the CPR and its predecessor the CPD suggests that the derogation is much more limited in its scope.

Publication of the proposal indicates that CE non- compliance is possibly a general problem for construction product manufacturers.