The Wood Protection Association is encouraging as many UK and overseas timber treaters as possible to join the WPA Benchmark Quality Assurance Scheme for preservative treated wood.
The availability of independent, third-party, quality accredited material is your ticket to a better business and fewer complaints. Why? Because it raises buyer confidence and gives added assurance of the fitness-for-purpose of goods and services – and treated timber is no different.
The Wood Protection Association (WPA) believes there is, at last, signs of positive change in the industrial timber treatment sector – with more businesses proving their treatment operations’ credibility by achieving WPA Benchmark accreditation.
WPA Director Neil Ryan reports that significant progress in expanding Benchmark scheme membership has been achieved over the last 18 months.
While the majority of WPA treater members have voluntarily joined Benchmark over the years since its 2011 launch, the recent growth in membership numbers is mainly a result of TDUK members agreeing to implement a treated wood action plan.
This made it mandatory for them to supply preservative treated wood products with independent quality accreditation.
Since 2017 TDUK and the WPA have been working closely together to develop initiatives that will help increase demand for correctly treated preservative treated timber.
The TDUK Preservative Treatment Action Plan – now part of the TDUK Member’s Code of Conduct – identified three priority areas for action:
- To address the common failure to specify treated wood correctly
- To address the lack of understanding on how to correctly install and use treated wood
- To ensure independent verification of the treatment process.
The work of both organisations, alongside market research and feedback from members, has shown there has been significant progress around points 1 and 2 over the past four years.
Neil says: “While knowledge about the different levels of treatment for timber [Use Classes] has grown significantly among merchants and end users, both the WPA and TDUK recognise there is much more to do.”
Independent verification
When it comes to ensuring independent verification of the treatment process, a total of 27 timber treatment sites have become newly Benchmark QA accredited and TDUK Action Plan compliant, with six more applications in the pipeline.
“This is fantastic news for the timber merchant/supplier sector, which now has greater access to independently certificated treated timber from companies who are investing in the quality of the materials they supply,” Neil continues.
“These companies have demonstrated that they are following the correct procedures and practices in line with the WPA Code of Practice and the British Standard for wood preservation, BS8417, to ensure timber is treated correctly and fit for purpose.
“The progress achieved represents a major step forward for both WPA and TDUK in their joint efforts to raise timber treatment quality standards across the UK supply chain and will greatly benefit the end user and the reputation of timber as a reliable option for an extensive range of end uses.”
Promoting accredited treatment
The WPA Commercial Committee has given the green light to a more robust promotion of WPA Benchmark quality accredited treatment plants and treated wood.
This upgraded communication campaign will apply to the key supply chain audiences served by both WPA and TDUK, and will include:
Raising the profile of WPA Benchmark (Benchmark) accredited businesses by creating a dedicated page on the WPA website for each treater and any specific treated wood products like fence posts that are individually certificated as fit for purpose under the scheme
Producing literature and media articles that promote the benefits of Benchmark accreditation to the wood preservation industry, stockists of treated wood, specifiers and buyers and to end users like builders, fencing contractors and landscapers
Complete the current review of the WPA Benchmark treated wood Scheme Document to clarify and increase the robustness of the audit and compliance requirements
Helping all WPA Benchmark accredited treaters to review their own marketing materials and raise the use of the scheme logo with descriptions of what this means for their treated wood customers.
Neil says: “The time is right to put a greater emphasis into promoting the benefits of Benchmark quality assured wood treaters.”
A TDUK campaign is also currently underway to reinforce the commitment to buy treated wood products only from quality accredited sources. TDUK is speaking to any of its members who have not, as yet, confirmed they are either compliant or are working towards compliance.
The WPA believes the TDUK Action Plan will help to protect and grow the market for quality and fit-for-purpose treated wood products.
This article has been published in Issue 06 of Supplying Timber magazine.
