IVS launches Timber Preservation Quality Assurance Programme

Media Release, September 2010 - A new, independent timber preservative quality assurance programme has been established to provide the wood industry with a fast and dependable system for judging the effectiveness and safety of timber treatments.

The Timber Preservation Quality Assurance Programme is designed to meet industry best practice for timber treatment and the requirements of the New Zealand Preservation

Standard NZS3640 and is an important step in re-establishing confidence in the durability of wood products with the construction trade and building owners, according to biosecurity and verification experts Independent verification Services (IVS), who developed the programme.

IVS is an accredited inspection b

ody and provide credible, robust quality assurance programmes and verification services to the forestry industry. They employ a specialist team of forestry auditors who understand wood processing and can provide technical support and advice.

Through its current experience in providing verification and certification for timber to meet export requirements, IVS has taken its involvement in the timber sector a step further by forming a partnership with Hill Laboratories, New Zealand’s leading analytical testing laboratory, to carry out full analysis of timber treatments. Using state of the art ICPMS and LCMS testing equipment, Hill Laboratories minimises the risk of sample interferences that could distort the testing results, thus ensuring accuracy.

The new testing programme has other benefits. There’s six day maximum return on testing results, which minimises disruption to the process supply chain and enables the treatment plant operator to identify and address issues quickly and avoid over-treatment of product. IVS also provides a risk calculation to assist with determining an appropriate treatment level, this calculation measures the probability of the timber treatment falling below the minimum Hazard Class requirement using timber sample variability and average treatment retention results.

Reports will provide processors with c

lear and quantitative data showing the retention and penetration achieved for each sample checked, with the analysis report providing a graphical representation of results on such things as: Mass /

Mass result for chemicals actives analysed; Preservative Penetration; Variables / Trends.

“The partnership between IVS and Hill Laboratories brings together two organisations of sound reputation. Their combined commitment to a fast turnaround time of accurate analytical results provides timber treatment companies not only an independent verification of their quality systems; but also the ability to fine tune their preservative treatment operations. This saves time, money, minimises wastage, without compromising on the quality and durability of their timber,” says Wood Protection Consultant Jeanette Drysdale, who has been closely involved in the development of the IVS Timber Preservation Quality Assurance Programme.

Companies that take part in the programme are able to use the IVS Quality Assurance mark, which provides a visual confirmation that the treated timber has been produced under a quality system that has been independently audited to meet the requirements of the Timber Treatment Standards.

“Timber is our most sustainable raw material and its credentials are unparalleled. Combined with the right treatment, correctly applied, with robust checks and measures to ensure quality, and you have a product that will look good and last a lifetime,” says Peter Webb, Chief Executive of IVS.

However, he adds that consumer confidence in wood has taken a battering through the leaky homes saga and there is a need to build confidence and trust in timber building solutions. Equally, users of treated timber need to be confident that the timber has been treated correctly and meets the hazard class requirements for the application.

Mr Webb says it was a logical step for IVS to enter the market with the timber treatment quality assurance programme and, being able to tack on the service for existing clients means that IVS can streamline the process through bundled audits for both export certification requirements and the Timber Preservation Programme, thus saving time, money and providing increased efficiencies for its clients’ business.

Source: Article by John Ellegard, Editor, NZ Logger/NZ Timber Magazine