the wood and wood products industry
Timber Standards & CE Marking
Timber and timber-based products are commonly specified as meeting a particular British (BS) or European (EN) Standard, and in general this can be done without any certification or independent testing. The standard simply provides a shorthand way of claiming that certain specifications are met, while encouraging manufacturers to adhere to a common method for such a specification. Standards are designed for voluntary use and do not impose any regulations. However, laws and regulations may refer to certain standards and make compliance with them compulsory.
Responsible suppliers should always investigate whether a published standard exists for the product type and, if so, why would they choose not to meet the requirements of that standard?
There is normally one standard setting out the main requirements for a particular type of product and, where necessary, this will point users towards other applicable documents, such as test and measurement standards and reference documents such as Design guides or Codes of Practice.
Members can download the latest TTF Guide to Timber Standards which provides brief information about the primary standards related to timber products and their main supporting documents.
For information on the move to Eurocode 5 for the design of timber structures please click here.
Timber Related Standards News
Members can also download our monthly TTF Timber Related Standards News below
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CE Marking and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)
Compliance with the forthcoming Construction Products Regulation (including CE marking) will become mandatory on certain wood and wood-based construction products in the UK from July 2013.
It will be compulsory to comply with the CPR and CE Mark products arriving in the UK or manufactured after that date. A number of other responsibilities will be imposed on the supply chain, principally to ensure CE information is passed down the chain.
In terms of product range, the CPR only applies to specific product groups intended for Construction which are covered by a Harmonised Standard - see list below:
EN 13986 covers all Wood-based Panels for use in Construction,
EN 14081 covers Structural Timber with rectangular cross-sections (a separate standard for finger-jointed structural timber is in development).
EN 14374 covers Structural Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)
EN 14915 covers Solid Wood Panelling & Cladding,
EN 14342 covers Wood Flooring,
EN 14250 covers Roof Trusses,
EN 14080 covers Glue-Laminated Timber.
As part of the CPR, manufacturers will be required to provide a Declaration of Performance (DoP) when placing a construction product on the market which contains technical information to demonstrate the product’s fitness for purpose. There may be an obligation for Importers and distributors to pass this information on to their customers, particularly for safety critical products such as Structural Plywood and Structural Timber.
Examples of important wood products which should NOT need CE marking would be general Sawn or Machined goods (unless they are Structural or Flooring). Equally, Treated Fencing will not require CE marking but Treated Structural Timber will. Decking should also on the whole be exempt but may count as Structural if it is used as a balcony or raised up on columns.
The TTF will produce further guidance as the implementation date approaches and the UK Government sets out their implementation strategy.
