In the past

the radiological dose model for soil (the soil’s dose model) was used to calculate the doses of decorative building materials

because no model suited to these materials was established. With the help of Monte Carlo method

we have proposed a new model to calculate the absorbed dose rates in air for decorative building materials. Values calculated by the new dose model

though much diverse from those by the soil’s dose model

are very close to the measured values. It is therefore concluded that the soil’s dose model is usually not suitable for estimating radiological doses from decorative building materials.