A successful installation of commercial wallcovering requires that building walls are not subject to moisture accumulation. If the design, construction or maintenance of a building and/or other circumstances allow moisture to accumulate in a wall or wall cavity, wallcovering may act as a vapor barrier, restricting the escape of moisture and increasing the risk of mold growth.

Permeability is a measure of the amount of water vapor (moisture) that can pass through a specified material  in a certain amount of time. The measure and degree of permeability is expressed in units referred to as Perms. Materials with high Perm levels will allow more moisture or water vapor to pass through than those with lower Perm values.

The permeability of the vinyl wallcovering itself can be increased by perforation. If vinyl wallcovering is given high quality perforation, is properly installed on a permeable wall surface and properly maintained it will have greater permeability than vinyl conventional wallcovering which has not been perforated.