Buyer beware

Summary
• The CE brand is not a quality mark, but ensures the material is fit for purpose.
• BM TRADA’s third-party Q-Mark scheme goes beyond CE requirements.
• If CPD changes from a directive to a regulation, “the plywood industry might be wise to put its house in order”.

Latin may be a dying language but few timber traders are unfamiliar with the phrase “caveat emptor”.

Over the years it has tripped off the tongue as yet another supplier has found a way to cash in on a lucrative market, usually by falsely marking a product to pretend to be what it’s not. When Far Eastern plywood was flooding into the UK in the late 1970s and 80s, WBP (weather and boil proof) was stamped with gay abandon on boards that were unlikely to withstand a light shower.

Now, 30 years on, the market has CE marking to contend with.

Manufacturer's declaration

Buyers have to understand that the CE mark is not a quality mark. It is simply a manufacturer’s declaration that a product meets the requirements of a European Technical Specification, in the case of structural plywood EN13986: Wood based panels for use in construction, and is fit for purpose.

This will also ensure it complies with the Construction Products Directive (CPD), which exporters to Europe must adhere to. With the exception of the UK, Ireland and Sweden, the only way to do so is to apply a CE mark.

For this, three key areas of manufacture must be monitored: Initial Type Testing (ITT) to prove initial compliance and give characteristic values of the product; Factory Production Control (FPC) to prove ongoing compliance with the specification; and ongoing test programmes to check the FPC is working.

The technical specification will give each product one of six Attestation of Conformity (AoC) levels – 1+, 1, 2+, 2, 3 and 4. For all levels, apart from level 4, a manufacturer needs some input from a Notified Body (NB) such as BM TRADA.

Under EN 13986, structural plywood has an AoC of level 2+, where the role of the NB is to certify the FPC system and ensure the manufacturer can produce structural plywood.

CE marking requires ITT to prove bending strength and bending stiffness according to EN310, bonding quality to EN314 Part 1 and release of formaldehyde to EN717 Part 1 or Annex B of EN13986. For specific end uses such as wall sheathing, structural flooring and roofing, further test evidence is required.

Once conformity has been achieved, the company is then able to display the CE logo followed by the identification number of the NB, as well as the producer’s name or identifying mark, the year of marking, the EC certificate of conformity number and product characteristics.

Falsified marking

However, as has been the case with recent consignments of plywood from China, it appears all too easy to falsify the CE mark on sub-standard boards. As a result, Chinese manufacturers have suffered a loss of confidence in their product in Europe. Yet the market is growing. In 2007, softwood plywood exports from China to the UK rose by 14% and hardwood plywood by nearly 10%, with this trend expected to continue.

To assist bona fide manufacturers keen to dissociate themselves from those only interested in making a fast buck by false marking, BM TRADA has launched a third-party certification Q-Mark scheme which not only provides for CE marking but goes beyond it with the assessment approached as if for a higher AoC Level 1+ product.

Crucially, all boards must be individually marked and any mills found to be non-compliant will be suspended from the scheme immediately.

Monitoring

That said, Trading Standards will be closely monitoring CE marking on plywood from China in particular, and will take to task those who abuse it. The onus is equally on buyers to question their sources and check certificates with a fine-tooth comb.

Undeniably, plywood is a commodity traded largely on price and, in the current economic climate, buyers could be sorely tempted to gloss over the validity of any CE mark and buy cheaply. In any case, CE marking is not mandatory in the UK, so buyers are unlikely to pay a premium for it. That could well change though, if the CPD is transformed from a directive to a regulation, as is mooted.

The plywood industry might be wise to put its house in order before that happens.

BM TRADA and The Timber Trade Federation are holding a joint seminar in London on September 3 to explain the requirements for structurally graded plywood/CE marking. For details e-mail ncannings@trada.co.uk or tel: 01494 569642.