# NHLA grade

*Also called: Lumber grade, FAS, No. 1 Common*

**A hardwood lumber grade set at the sawmill by how much clear material a board will yield when cut up — not a statement about a finished floor.**

The National Hardwood Lumber Association grades lumber on clear-face yield, expressed in twelfths. FAS requires 83-1/3%, or 10/12, from boards 6 inches and wider at 8 to 16 feet. No. 1 Common requires 66-2/3%, or 8/12. No. 2A Common requires 50%. No. 3A Common requires 33-1/3%.

The grade is fixed at the sawmill and never improves. A flooring mill works within it; a finish does not change it.

This is not the grade on a flooring quote. That is an NWFA/NOFMA appearance grade, published by a different body in a separate document with the opposite logic, and the flooring standard does not cross-reference the lumber rules at all.

## Related terms

- [Clear-face yield](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/clear-face-yield)
- [Flooring grade](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/flooring-grade)


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/nhla-grade
- Publisher: Ecowoods Inc., Toronto & the GTA
- Contact: (647) 244-5156 · services@ecowoods.ca
- Defined in: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/hardwood-grading-standards-nhla-nwfa#nhla-yield
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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