Ensure imported wood is compliant, warns ITC-SA

The SA construction market is currently experiencing a shortage of structural timber which has led to an increase in the essential import of the building material.

National building regulations require that all structural timber comply with SANS 1783, which covers sawn softwood timber, and both national and international manufacturers of structural timber supplied to the SA market are expected to be certified by a South African-based ISO 17065-accredited certification body. This also applies to neighbouring countries like Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Non-compliant wood in the SA market

“Even so, it is not uncommon for non-compliant structural timber to be imported and supplied to the local market, including to formal roof truss manufacturers, without there being any knowledge of the integrity of the finger joints, adhesive used, or the grading of the timber,” remarks Abe Stears, managing director of the South African Technical Auditing Services (SATAS).

“Worse so, when a batch of non-compliant imported timber is rejected by a buyer, it is commonplace for that timber to simply be sold on to another unsuspecting buyer. In this way, non-compliant imported timber for structural applications may still find its way into the South African market,” he says.

Presently, only SATAS and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) are accredited to certify manufacturers of products in compliance with SANS 1783.

Ensuring compliance

“It is both unfair and unacceptable to expect local manufacturers to comply at a cost with the requirements to ensure that a quality product is supplied to the end user, while non-compliant imported timber is allowed to be used in structural components. Even though South Africa is experiencing a shortage of structural timber that necessitates the use of imports, we have to ensure that the same rules apply to this timber, and that all timber coming into the South African structural timber market is in compliance with SANS 1783,” says Stears.

“All industry professionals who make use of structural timber are urged not only to be aware of national legislation around the use of structural timber, but to not make use of any imported, or locally produced, for that matter, timber that does not comply with South African standards and requirements,” he concludes.