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ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALASIA
Editorial Item
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Case-study 'nasties' to watch for in plywood
Tuesday 24th June 2008
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A series of seven case studies on the use of non-certified plywood and the consequences of using plywood that is not fit for purpose is a ‘must read’ for those of you who have asked the question: "Is it worth paying a little extra for certified plywood ?"
Among the test cases are:
- A distributor of falsely-labelled imported formwork plywood has been seeking market acceptance for the product in Queensland after claiming that it had been selling quality formply successfully in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth since 2007.
The imported formwork plywood, sourced from China, had technical data claiming the F17 and F14 product was qualified by an Australian authority and exhibited an Australian certification number.
- A Sydney unit development was shut down by the NSW Work Cover Authority in a breakthrough test case against the use of imported non-compliant formply in building construction. WorkCover NSW stopped concrete pouring on the site until the formply was replaced with material that complies with the requirements of the Australian Standard and is correctly labelled for stress grade.
- Imported underlayment plywoods have failed stability tests and Australian Standards for lyctid susceptibility and accepted formaldehyde levels.
- Random samples of plywood sheets obtained on the open market by the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA) were unlabelled for grade, bond type and formaldehyde emission class and there was no indication of the manufacturer or exact country of origin.
- Melbourne timber merchants have reported that timber flooring failures are being increasingly attributed to the use of inferior imported underlayment plywood.
- An EWPAA spot survey among reputable builders reveals a very real concern that delaminating of underlay material on many projects can be tracked to the use of non-certified product imported from Asia, including plywood of the Populus spp genus, a low density hardwood frequently used by Chinese plywood manufacturers.
- In New Zealand, EWPAA members have reported a number of ‘near misses’ where they have managed to stop a substitution of imported non AS/NZS2269 compliant plywood being used. In one case, the imported non-compliant material was used in a roof substrate application for a retirement village, a school and a police station
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Source: Selector.com. - Tuesday 24th June 2008
Information correct at the time of publication. If you are interested in this product please use the following links.
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