Timber review prompts fears for housing
Partially treated framing timber could be allowed into the building industry with the Government’s blessing, an industry boss says.
Untreated timber has been banned for framing since 2003 after the rules were relaxed in 1995, prior to the leaky building crisis.
Marty Verry, chief executive of leading mill Red Stag, said that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was considering allowing ‘‘envelope treated’’ timber in a review of timber treatment standards.
Verry said that the wood would be at greater risk of decay and called it a ‘‘dangerous development’’. ’’It threatens people’s major home asset, and it risks timber’s reputation as a reliable building material.’’
But Brian Stanley, chairman of the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association, said the leaky home crisis was caused by poor workmanship and design, not untreated timber.
‘‘Any timber, including timber that’s treated with boron, will rot if it gets wet, so when you build a home, you build it so it doesn’t get wet.’’
MBIE confirmed a review of timber treatment standards was under way.
At the moment, timber that risks exposure to the wet must be treated with an anti-fungal treatment which permeates the sapwood. Envelope treated timber allows a thin layer of treatment around the outside.
Others in the timber industry suggested the issues might really be market share and the emergence of new timber products.
Verry estimates leaky homes cost the timber industry about $233 million in sales and said it could not afford to damage its reputation again.
But JNL Masterton’s mill manager, Paul Jordan, said the Government needed to keep pace with wood innovations.
JNL’S J-frame, a LVL framing product, is being investigated by the Commerce Commission for matters it would not specify but did include its labelling.
It has a hazard class of H1.2, which means it is suitable for enclosed framing where it is not exposed to weather, but there is a risk of dampness such as burst pipes.
Jordan said he did not want to comment on the commission’s investigation.
But he said he was confident J-frame was fit for purpose.
Consumers had to be able to have confidence in the timber standards, but the standards also had to keep up.
‘‘We’ve got a whole lot of new technologies and we’ve got engineers who are looking outside the box who are saying we can build houses, faster, smarter, cheaper, if we can bring these technologies that exist in Japan, North America, Scandinavia and central Europe to New Zealand and adapt them to New Zealand conditions.’’