UK specifiers now have a wider choice of plywood following the British Standard approval of additional US grades for use in load bearing situations.
The grades, including APA Performance Rated Sheathing Exposure 1 and Sturd-I-Floor Exposure 1, conform to American Standards PS2-92 and PRP-108, which have been approved under the new edition of the British Standard 5268 2-2002. Previously only the flagship American Product Standard PS1-95 was listed by the British standard .
Duncan King of the APA-The Engineered Wood Association said the approval of two further American standards provides continued recognition of the “acceptable quality of an increased number of plywood grades from the US”.
Currently, he added, the only American PS2-92 and PRP-108 plywood grades approved under British Standards for load-bearing applications are those trademark-stamped by the APA.
Plywood grades from Canada, Finland and Sweden also meet British Standard 5268.
