Plywood seminar is “eye-opener” for trade

A special seminar outlining the relationship between structural-grade plywood and CE marking was “an eye-opener” for the industry, according to Mark Wilkinson, business development manager at BM TRADA.

Mr Wilkinson, along with The Timber Trade Federation’s head of technical and trade policy Nick Boulton, addressed more than 60 representatives from the trade on how CE marking equates to structural-grade plywood.

Mr Wilkinson said the London event had achieved its aim of making companies more aware of the issues but said it had shown “most hadn’t got the concept” of CE marking.

He added that the seminar would have to be repeated in order to carry the message further in the trade and ensure more people were given the right information about CE marking and plywood.

Mr Boulton said one of his key themes at the seminar was the basic need to supply three pieces of information to guarantee structural-grade plywood: structural performance data, control of product properties and evidence linking the product to the data.

“The most important thing is that they go back to their office and look at the info they’ve got for their products,” said Mr Boulton.

“If they’ve got all three, they’ve got structural-grade plywood.”

Attendee Colin Tetley, operations manager at panel importer Altripan UK, said the event had helped him and his colleagues clear up their knowledge on CE marking, which had become “a grey area”.

“It made understanding the issues clearer and will help us in the long-run,” he said.