Floor Covering Installer is launching a new awards program kicking off with the opening of Surfaces in Las Vegas. The FCI Installation Awards aims to honor the most professional and creative installations of the year in both residential and commercial settings in five flooring categories: Carpet, Ceramic Tile/Stone, Hardwood, Laminate and Resilient. The awards site, fciawards.fcimag.com, will go live on Jan. 27.

Anyone in the flooring installation industry can enter. Simply provide two to four high-res, 300 dpi photos of the installation project in .jpg or.gif format (including at least one shot of the finished installation), as well as the name of the installer, distributor and retailer (for any flooring products bought), and a list of the manufacturers/suppliers of flooring and installation materials used. Short writeups will also be needed describing any challenges met during the project, and any outstanding or unique features of the installation.

Winners will receive a plaque and have their projects featured in FCI magazine throughout the year. Judging will be done online by your industry peers. The contest will offer free entry until the end of the March. Beginning in April, a $25 fee will be required to enter, with the final entries collected until mid-April. Voting runs from the beginning of May to the end of June, with the winners announced later in the summer both online and in the pages of our magazine. Find out more about this new awards contest at our Surfaces booth, S6671.