Our position, stated plainly
Missing technical documentation is a recurring reason a Turkish stone supplier loses a US commercial job. We would rather lose the inquiry than win it on a document we cannot produce.
- Tell us which standard and which test your project calls for.
- We find out whether the data exists, and we tell you the answer either way.
- Where it exists and the report identifies our supplier, we have two honest routes: commission the test in our own name at an independent laboratory, or share the existing report under a confidentiality agreement. We do not black out a name and pass the document off as clean.
- If it does not exist, we say so, and we tell you what testing would cost and take.
- We never re-badge someone else's report or an industry-average document as ours.
Supplier confidentiality is a condition of how we work, not an evasion. It is also why the second route above exists rather than a flat refusal.
Material specifications
ASTM publishes a specification per stone type. These are what a US architect or specifier will name in the submittal.
| Standard | Title | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM C503 | Standard Specification for Marble Dimension Stone | Marble |
| ASTM C1527 | Standard Specification for Travertine Dimension Stone | Travertine |
| ASTM C568 | Standard Specification for Limestone Dimension Stone | Limestone |
The test methods behind them
Each specification sets limits on physical properties, and each property has its own test method. When a submittal asks for "ASTM test data", these are the numbers meant.
| Test | Measures | Why it is asked for |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM C97 | Absorption and bulk specific gravity | Porosity. Predicts staining and freeze-thaw behavior. |
| ASTM C170 | Compressive strength | Resistance to crushing load. |
| ASTM C99 | Modulus of rupture | Bending strength under a single-point load. |
| ASTM C880 | Flexural strength | Bending strength at the actual installed thickness, two-point load. |
| ASTM C241 | Abrasion resistance | Wear under foot traffic. Asked for on commercial floors. |
Absorption under ASTM C97 is the one to watch for exterior work in a cold state. A porous stone that performs well in Florida can fail a freeze-thaw cycle in Illinois.
Slip resistance
US floor specifications reference ANSI A326.3. Interior floors expected to be walked on when wet are specified at a wet dynamic coefficient of friction of 0.42 or greater.
The 2021 revision of the standard added criteria for exterior areas, barefoot traffic, and areas commonly exposed to oil and grease.
Finish drives this number more than material does. A polished tile and a tumbled tile cut from the same block behave completely differently underfoot. If the job has a wet area, tell us at quotation stage, not after the container is loaded.
Environmental documentation
Environmental Product Declarations and LEED documentation are asked for more often every year on US commercial work, and they are the area where Turkish mills are weakest. Be careful what you are handed: an industry-average declaration issued to a trade association is not a declaration for the stone in your container, and expired documents circulate freely in this trade.
We check the issue date, the holder and the scope of any document before we pass it on. If a mill cannot support your requirement, our answer will be that it cannot, early enough for you to price another source.
CE marking
Stone sold into the European Union carries a CE mark and a declaration of performance under the harmonized standard for that product. It is a European requirement and does not substitute for ASTM data on a US job. If you are buying for both markets, say so, and we will tell you before you order whether CE documentation can be provided for your product; it is not automatic.
What to send us. The specification section, or even a photograph of the submittal page, is the fastest possible start. It tells us the standard, the finish, the slip requirement and the tolerance in one go.