Arch Timber Protection officially opened its £900,000 fire retardant treatment centre in Castleford last week.
The investment in treatment vessels, undercover storage for timber, kilns and a dedicated area for branding treated timber – including own branding when required – has increased capacity by 300% at the site.
Presentations on the day by Arch Timber Protection’s technical research manager Andrew Hughes and Dr Janet Murrell of the Warrington Fire Research Centre covered new fire test methods, harmonised standards and CE marking for fire retardant treated wood-based panels.
Lord Lofthouse performed the official opening which was followed by a tour of the new facilities and a full scale staircase fire test demonstration.
The local fire brigade set fire to two staircases to demonstrate how one treated with Arch Timber’s DRICON burnt much more slowly than the other which was untreated.
The company said its fire retardant treatments would meet the essential requirements of the Construction Product Directive’s harmonsied standard for panel products (BS EN 13986).
Arch Timber is investing in building a data package of species and sizes of boards for customers and also said it intends to work closely with individual customers on the requirements of BS EN 13986 and on actual CE marking of brands.
