FEATURE TIMBER TREATMENTS
Action Stations for Treated Timber
Members of the Wood Protection Association (WPA) and Timber Trade Federation (TTF) are on a mission to grow demand for preservative treated wood. At the heart of this mission is a three stage Action Plan. Treatment plant at Bond Timber near Plymouth was one of the first to achieve WPA Benchmark accreditation for both 15 and 30-years service life fencing products. Photo courtesy: Bond Timber
T
he Action Plan is intended to
boards and timber cladding where the potential
ensure treated wood purchased
for fungal decay is much lower.
from a TTF member is timber that can be trusted. The TTF is
working in partnership with the WPA to deliver the action plan successfully. The Action Plan to grow demand for treated wood will:
Strict QA criteria vital for UC4 applications It is treated wood in UC4 ground contact applications that is most often the subject of negative PR and anecdotal reports of poor
• • •
Address the common failure to specify
performance. If a treated wood fence post fails
treated wood correctly
after a few years, it is almost always the efficacy
Address the lack of understanding on how to
of the wood preservative that is called into
correctly install and use treated wood
question. “There are many reasons why a treated
Make the independent verification of the
product may decay prematurely but a lack of
treatment process mandatory for all treated
preservative efficacy is not one of them,” says
wood placed on the UK market by TTF
WPA Director Gordon Ewbank, who confirms that
members.
a major field trial of UK softwood fence posts established in 2015 is now starting to show that
Nowhere is the need to build confidence
wood can be trusted to perform when products
The mechanical incising of wood facilitates preservative penetration of wood and can help achieve the quality requirements for Use Class 4 treatments under the WPA Benchmark scheme.
in the efficacy of treated wood more acute
are treated correctly for their end use. “Ensuring
than in the fencing and landscaping sector
fitness for purpose is the responsibility of both
where products are used in direct contact with
buyers and suppliers. Buyers have a responsibility
wood treaters to address the quality assurance
the ground or very close to the ground. These
to correctly specify the products they want, and
needs of their customers.
are what are known as the Use Class 4 (UC4)
wood treaters have a responsibility to have the
applications in British Standards. They are the
quality procedures in place that enable them to
end uses where wood is permanently exposed
deliver those products consistently. That’s why
The independent quality verification of
to the weather and frequently wet for extended
the strictest third-party criteria is applied to the
treated wood has been a key feature of timber
periods of time.
accreditation of all UC4 treated wood products
supply chains in North America and Scandinavia
under the WPA Benchmark quality scheme.”
for decades. Their introduction in these major
Challenging service conditions where it is vital treated wood products give a predictable
This is a view shared by the TTF which has
TTF members take the lead
wood using markets is widely acknowledged as a
service life - 15 years being the default service
reaffirmed that there can be no compromise
key reason behind the continued strong demand
life for UC4 applications in BS8417, the British
on the quality assurance aspects of the Treated
for preservative treated wood. TTF Members
Standard for preservative treated wood. This
Wood Action Plan agreed by its members.
believe that third-party quality assurance could
standard also specifies the level of preservative
In consultation with the WPA it has recently
have the same effect in the UK and are currently
treatment necessary to protect wood in the
redefined the pathway to compliance under
working to deliver this part of their treated wood
other main application Use Classes – UC1 and
the WPA Benchmark quality scheme. WPA
Action Plan.
UC2 for indoor applications and UC3 exterior out
Benchmark is a third-party quality assurance
of ground applications such as fence rails, decking
scheme launched in 2011 as a credible way for UK
Timber Trader UK Magazine
Summer 2022
24
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