Contractors “driving” government timber procurement policy

Building contractors are often driving the delivery of the government’s timber procurement policy rather than public bodies they work for, according to a new study.

The Central Point of Expertise on Timber’s (CPET) long-awaited construction sector study also says some public bodies have developed their own timber procurement policies, with some specifying FSC-certified timber only, which could cause confusion for suppliers.

The Defra-commissioned study, which focused on nine construction projects involving 14 public bodies, found a high proportion of projects were subject to a policy on timber procurement, though only four were directly compliant with central government policy.

CPET is recommending improved awareness among public body procurement staff, as only two out of 14 public bodies had actively raised awareness of central government timber procurement policy with personnel through training and workshops.

It is also urging better communciation with contractors, regular checks on timber delivered to site, better reporting of volumes and type of timber used and greater consistency between the timber procurement policies adopted by individual public bodies.

See above right for a PDF of the report.

For more on this story see the next issue of TTJ