Static dissipative: 1.0 x 10^6 to 1.0 x 10^9 ohms

Q: Is dissipative worse than conductive?

No, and the ESD Association says so directly[5]. They are different bands for different risks. Dissipative is the usual answer for handling ESD sensitive parts. Conductive is for where the discharge itself is an ignition source.

This is the band most electronics work runs on^[5]. It still drains a charge, just more gradually than the conductive grade, and that gentler bleed is the point when the thing you are protecting is a component rather than an atmosphere.

1.0 x 10^6 to 1.0 x 10^9ohmsANSI/ESD STM7.1

under 1.0 x 10^9ohmsANSI/ESD STM97.1

3.5 x 10^7ohmsIEC/EN 61340-5-1

Where we stand on this grade. New Era installs the conductive system. A dissipative system is available if your specification calls for it. Send us the spec and we will tell you straight whether it is a fit before anyone quotes anything.

Send us your spec See the conductive grade

Why the band is wider

A dissipative floor sits between an insulator and a conductor on purpose. It gives a charge a route away without offering a fast one, so a person picking up a charged item does not hand it a sudden path. The ESD Association describes the trade directly: dissipative is the general answer, and conductive is for cases where full elimination of discharge risk is the requirement^[5].

The system is what gets qualified

S20.20 does not test the floor alone. It tests a person, their footwear and the floor in series, and the ceiling is under 1.0 x 10^9 ohms^[1]. Your footwear choice is part of the answer, which is why a floor that passes under one shoe can fail under another.

There is a second, older path

The pre-2014 S20.20 approach used a 3.5 x 10^7 ohm ceiling for the person, footwear and floor in series, and it is still carried in EN and IEC 61340-5-1^[16]. If your program document quotes that number, it is not out of date, it is on the other path.

The international equivalent

IEC 61340-5-1 is the international counterpart to ANSI/ESD S20.20, and Edition 3.0 landed in 2024^[6]. The change that matters most to a flooring buyer: a facility can now qualify its ESD control items, flooring included, at the lowest relative humidity that facility actually experiences across the year, rather than against a fixed arbitrary benchmark^[18].

Why that helps you. Resistance moves with humidity. Qualifying at your own worst case means the number on the certificate describes your building in February, not a laboratory. More on IEC 61340-5-1.

Questions

Do you install static dissipative floors?

The conductive system is what New Era installs. A dissipative system is available if your specification calls for it. Send the spec over and we will tell you plainly whether it is a fit, before anybody quotes a number. Send it here.

Is dissipative worse than conductive?

No, and the ESD Association says so directly^[5]. They are different bands for different risks. Dissipative is the usual answer for handling ESD sensitive parts. Conductive is for where the discharge itself is an ignition source.

Our spec quotes 3.5 x 10⁷ ohms. Is that wrong?

Not wrong, just the other path. That is the legacy system resistance ceiling for a person, footwear and floor in series, from the pre-2014 S20.20 approach, and it is still carried in EN and IEC 61340-5-1^[16].

Does humidity change whether we pass?

It can, which is why IEC 61340-5-1:2024 lets a facility qualify at its own lowest annual relative humidity rather than a fixed benchmark^[18]. A floor qualified in a humid month can read differently in a dry one.