However, if they're using or handling components that could be damaged by electrostatic discharges, you need to ask more questions and find out what level of protection is required.The manufacturers of the equipment being used in the room are likely to specify the type of flooring required.In the case of new buildings or facilities, there are sure to be engineering specifications for any ESD-sensitive areas.
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Anti-static floors use a flooring material that is slightly conductive* such that a person &#;scuffing&#; across it will not build up a static charge which will discharge when they touch the earthed metal of any equipment. For instance if you had nylon carpets and walked across those then you will build up a static charge since the nylon will insulate you from earth.
*When I said slightly conductive it means that the material has a very high resistance and if (for example) I managed to touch a live 220V line and was only stood on the anti-static floor then I would be in series with a high resistance and the current will be very low and no damage done. In fact to it is generally accepted that you need in excess of a 30 mA current to possibly kill you and the anti-static flooring has such a high resistance that you will not get that.
If I managed to touched the 220V line and at the same time had my other hand on an earthed case then there is no resistance in series with me and more than 30 mA could flow through me and kill me, However, a normal installation will have a 30 mA trip circuit which detects if the Live and Neutral currents are different by more than 30 mA and switch off the mains in less than so many milliseconds which means that I am OK.
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In the two examples above, there had to be a bad fault condition for even the possibility of a shock. All exposed metal work is earthed and even with a fault such as the live wire falling of and touching the metal chassis then that is safe because the current goes down the earth route tripping the circuit breaker and the 30mA trip.
So in short it is safe to have an anti-static floor. If you do not have one then it should not particularly harm anything. If you have nylon carpets you will give the IT people shocks as they touch the earthed equipment but that should not harm them too much and will not damage the equipment.
Since this is a new installation and the cost of an anti-static floor is small compared to all the other cost then tell the architect that you want it.
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