Decks deal more aces

If there's one word that sums up the decking market, it's "stunning". That's the adjective used by Steve Young, general manager of the Timber Decking Association (TDA), after another year of strong growth.

Based on information from its growing membership, the TDA puts the total decking market (domestic and commercial selling prices including materials, installations and associated products) for 2003 at around £110m. That's a growth of around 10% on 2002. And while the speed of growth may have slowed down a little (2002's £100m figure was up from £60m the preceding year and in 1997 the market was under £5m), that's still a pretty big number in anyone's book.

The best news is that the popularity of decking shows no signs of abating. "We anticipate double-digit growth again this year," said Mr Young. "Demand has started to come through early again and companies like BSW and Howarth Timber (Arbordeck) are working flat out."

New TDA member International Timber is also capitalising on the buoyant market by launching Interdeck this month. The depth of the offer acknowledges a growing trend towards hardwood decks, including as it does four hardwood species (one of which is FSC-accredited), along with two softwood species. As with other manufacturers, the emphasis is increasingly on quality and durability.

"Our role is to convert the growth into a sustainable market and you can only do that if the materials and practices are high quality," said Mr Young. "The TDA reinforces those standards through the DeckMark quality assurance scheme and backs them up with initiatives such as the insurance backed warranty scheme and now the approved decking retailer scheme.

"While there are those who want to compete on price, we still see it very much as an added-value product and there are rewards for the people who go down that route."

While promising rewards for the good guys, the TDA will have no truck with cowboys in it for the short term. "2003 highlighted some problems," said Mr Young. "Our consumer helpline dealt with an increasing number of complaints about shoddy materials and poor workmanship, so 2003 was the year we issued a country-wide alert and declared war on the cowboys."

Homeowners' checklist

As ammunition it fired off a seven-point checklist to help homeowners make informed decisions. This included advice such as checking planning permission requirements with the local council and asking for 10-year warranties underwritten by an independent insurance certificate. It also pointed out that "if a price seems too good to be true, then it probably is".

The TDA's arsenal also includes a survey and "expert witness" service for those consumers who have fallen foul of rogue traders. The service ties in with the association's dispute resolution service which, in itself, is part of the DeckMark scheme. The dispute resolution service is an independent committee which fields technical consultants and officers from Trading Standards. It exists to protect TDA member and customer alike.

And the TDA itself has tightened up its membership rules. From September 2003 any companies seeking to join have had to pre-qualify for membership by becoming accredited to the DeckMark scheme. "In other words we audit them before allowing them membership," said Mr Young. "It is a fundamental change and is designed to eliminate the risk of a potential rogue trader getting in under false pretences."

"One of the things the high temperatures in 2003 highlighted for us was the low level of knowledge among the trade and the DIY sectors of the properties of wood and its application outdoors," said Mr Young.

"The heat certainly exposed a lot of tradesman who don't understand about moisture content. We've heard of instances where decks have been constructed using timber with a moisture content of 18-20% and as the temperature built up there were horrendous problems with shrinkage, splitting and twisting."

And, when timber doesn't meet the customers' expectations, no-one benefits.

"This is one of the reasons why we've introduced the approved decking retailer scheme," said Mr Young. "The manufacturing members felt that, while they were all DeckMark accredited and totally committed to quality, once you go down through the distribution chain the knowledge dissipates pretty quickly.

"Even in some of the most established chains the turnover of staff is such that the hand down of knowledge that was traditionally there is disappearing.

"We felt that traditional timber merchants are the best place for people to get advice about wood and the approved decking retailer scheme is aimed at improving the level of knowledge within that supply chain."

Close collaboration

The TDA is currently working in close collaboration with long-standing members such as BSW, Howarth and Burbidge and new members International Timber and Hoppings and has devised a training regime, to be rolled out shortly, that covers subjects such as the technical characteristics of timber, sustainability and environmental issues, performance factor requirements, relevant British Standards, warranties and grading.

The training will also review the specific DeckMark products the merchant is selling and demonstrate with case studies how to turn customer enquiries into further opportunities. "For example," said Mr Young, "if you're selling someone timber deckboards, sell them the fixings, the end grain sealers, the maintenance products and some decorative products as well."

One of the other subjects covered by the scheme is pressure treatment which, Steve Young said, "has the potential to become a big issue this year".

"The regulations restricting the use of CCA-treated wood to certain non-domestic markets comes into force this summer [June 30]. All our manufacturing members switched to alternative treatments in 2002/2003 so the supply chain for our members is entirely CCA free," said Mr Young. "However, we're not complacent and accept there is the potential for confusion when the regulations are formally introduced.

"We're very fortunate that we have the leading lights of the [treatments] sector – Osmose, Arch Timber Protection and the Wood Protection Association – as members and we're working closely with all three. At the last board meeting in December we decided that, despite all the good work that had been done, there was a need for the TDA to act in a non-commercial way to provide consumer information addressing any concerns relating to planned or existing deck installations and associated outdoor timber structures.

"For example, the EC directive behind the new regulations recognises that there is no good cause to remove or replace existing installations," said Mr Young, "and we're going to be very keen to reassure people about that."

Another priority highlighted by the summer of 2003 was deck maintenance and the TDA will be publishing a guidance note on that shortly.

New build sector

It is initiatives such as these that have attracted the attention of the big guns of the new build sector. "The NHBC is very interested in adopting some of the TDA's standards and guidance practices and has asked us to help them develop standard clauses to include in their manual and guidance for their inspectors.

"And Zurich Insurance has also expressed an interest in working with us. It is interested in our independent 10-year warranty and how it might be attached to its own new property insurance certificate.

"It's all exciting stuff," said Steve Young. "As for those who say the decking day has come and gone – they don't know what they're talking about."