The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) is making third-party quality assurance mandatory for members producing treated wood products by July 2022. In the meantime, in partnership with the Wood Protection Association (WPA), a campaign to raise supply chain knowledge about how to specify and use treated wood correctly has been launched and the campaign’s first advertisements are appearing in key trade magazines (ttjonline February 23). At the same time, actions to improve the description and traceability of treated products through the supply chain are under way.

The Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) and the Timber Decking & Cladding Association (TDCA) have joined forces with the TTF and WPA to drive the campaign’s educational messages into the supply chain to help improve buyer understanding and change perceptions about the performance of preservative wood protection. The members of all four trade bodies are regarded as ‘supply chain influencers’ and have been invited to use the campaigns communications materials, key messages and webinars with their own customers.

THE TTF ACTION PLAN

The TTF treated wood action plan has been developed in close collaboration with WPA and is designed to build confidence in the choice of preservative treated wood for ground contact applications, so creating the conditions required to grow demand for added value wood products. The key elements of the three-point plan are:

• Preservative treated wood must be accurately and unambiguously specified/ purchased, for use or resale, and be clearly identified at all points of the chain as fit for the intended purpose.

• Customers purchasing treated products from TTF members must be provided with adequate information and, where appropriate, training to be able to use and install those products safely and effectively.

• Preservative treated wood must be produced by or purchased, directly or indirectly, from a treatment provider whose operation has been assessed and approved under an independent and reputable accreditation scheme (by July 2022).

To quote the TTF’s managing director, David Hopkins, “Using the right product in the right place – and actively making sure the wrong product does not go into a project – is a responsibility that runs right throughout the supply chain and something that we must get right. It is only by working together that we can achieve this.

“This means labelling the goods properly so they can be clearly identified by customers and making sure an accurate product description is carried all the way through the supply chain – from the treatment plant through to merchants, to builders to architects, and others.”

THE CODE FOR CONSTRUCTION PRODUCT INFORMATION

This campaign also connects into a broader stream of work which all TTF and WPA members should be preparing for, which is the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI). The CCPI arises from the issues across construction first crystallised by the Hackitt Review, which was followed by two further reports from the Competency Steering Group for Building a Safer Future, including ‘Setting the Bar’.

The Construction Products Association (CPA) is launching an industry-wide consultation into the new Code for Construction Product Information, to gather the views before it is formally launched later this year. The Hackitt report confirmed radical change was needed for construction products, particularly in the areas of testing, information and marketing. The TTF and WPA welcome this initiative, particularly as it comes hard on the heels of the government’s announcement of a new Building Products standards regulator.

The CCPI workstream, being administered by the Construction Products Association, has asked the construction products sector to respond to a consultation ‘Construction Product Information Industry Consultation: Better Data, Safer Building’, setting out the need for a sector-wide approach to providing clear, accurate and unambiguous product information.

While the Grenfell tragedy may not have involved timber products, it has impacted the commercial landscape for all building materials and claims for performance right through the supply chain. This links very directly into the first element of the TTF Action Plan for treated wood, namely “treated wood must be accurately and unambiguously specified and be clearly identified at all points of the chain”. This message is proving very timely and gives an added focus and impetus to this initiative.

ABOUT THE WPA BENCHMARK SCHEME

Regarding element three of the TTF Plan – “treated wood must be produced by or purchased from a treatment provider whose operation has been assessed and approved under an independent accreditation scheme”, the WPA Benchmark is a quality scheme operated by the WPA for wood protection processes and products. The scheme for wood impregnated with an industrial preservative has been operating successfully for over 10 years and includes wood treaters in the UK and overseas. Under this scheme, individual treated wood products are certificated by third-party audit as being compliant with national treatment.

For further details, go to the WPA website resources page for Guidance Notes on the scheme via https://www.thewpa.org.uk/ resource-centre or contact the WPA or TTF for background information.

SHARE IN THE WPA’S PASSION FOR TREATED WOOD

WPA is delighted that major timber trade associations are collaborating closely to help the UK market for treated wood grow. We are happy to talk with any other organisation who shares our passion for wood protection technology and the industry’s mission to realise the full potential of wood as a sustainable, low environmental impact construction and landscaping material.