CertiWood Technical Centre: Engineered Wood Product Testing and Certification

BM TRADA and CertiWood Technical Centre are pleased to announce a major expansion of products which are now able to be CE marked under the BM TRADA / CertiWood alliance. CertiWood was the first North American Certification Organization to offer CE marking for structural panel products, EN 13986 beginning in 2003, and has extensive knowledge of the CE marking process.

Products where CE marking is, or will soon be, available are:

Std number	Title	AoC level	End of Co-ex period
EN 14080	Timber structures – Glued laminated timber – Requirements	1	01/04/2009
EN 14250	Timber structures – Product requirements for prefabricated structural members with punched metal plate fasteners / trusses	2+	01/06/2008
EN 14374	Timber structures – Structural laminated veneer lumber – Requirements	1	01/09/2006
ETAG 011	Light composite wood-based beams and columns	1	16/10/2004
ETAG 019	Prefabricated wood-based loadbearing stressed skin panels	1/3/4	02/11/2007
EN 14342	Wood flooring – Characteristics, evaluation of conformity and marking	3/4	01/03/2008
EN 14915	Solid wood panelling & cladding – Characteristics, evaluation of conformity and marking	1/3/4	01/06/2008
EN 13353 (via EN 13986)	Solid Wood Panels	2+/3/4	01/04/2004
ETAG 007	Timber frame building kits	1	24/05/2004
ETAG 012	Log building kits	1	28/02/2005
prEN 15497	Finger jointed structural timber – Performance requirements and minimum production requirements	1	Anticipated availability is Dec 2008

BM TRADA Certification is a leading multi-sector certification body accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) and a Notified Body and ETA (European Technical Approval) Issuing Body for products covered by the Construction Products Directive (CPD) and CertiWood is fully accredited as a structural testing laboratory ISO/IEC 17025 for materials testing and is accredited under ISO/IEC 17020 for mill inspections, proprietary products and systems. Furthermore, CertiWood is accredited as a Certification Body under ISO/IEC Guide 65.

For further information, please visit the CertiWood website, www.certiwood.com and the BM TRADA website www.bmtrada.com.

Companies interested in gaining CE certification for their construction products should contact:

Dale Black, CertiWood
604-981-4185
Black@Certiwood.com

Jorge Malisani, CMHC
613-748-4893 (t)
613-748-2302 (f)
Jmalisan@cmhc.ca

Market Advisory
October 7, 2007

Canadian Building Code Requirements for Structural Plywood Panels

Product Certification
Building codes applicable in Canadian jurisdictions specify the use of products manufactured to specific standards. Wood-based panels (plywood and OSB) used for subfloors, roof and wall sheathing in Housing and Small Buildings (Part 9 construction) must conform to CSA standards.

Panel Thickness
For products manufactured to prescriptive Canadian plywood standards (CSA O121 Douglas Fir Plywood, CSA O151 Canadian Softwood Plywood, or CSA O153 Poplar Plywood), the applicable building code specifies a minimum required thickness for floor, roof and wall sheathing applications. There is no allowance for the substitution of thinner (“scant” thickness) panels within prescriptive CSA standards; ie:

- 11/32” / 8.7 mm plywood can not be substituted for applications specifying 9.5 mm (e.g. use as roof sheathing with supported edges @ 24” o.c.)

- 15/32” / 11.9 mm can not be substituted for applications specifying 12.5 mm
(e.g. use as roof sheathing with unsupported edges @ 24” o.c.)

- 19/32” / 15.1 mm can not be substituted for applications specifying 15.5 mm
(e.g. use as subflooring @ 16” o.c.)

Note: This information does not apply to products manufactured and rated to performance standards such as CSA 0325 Construction Sheathing. These types of products are certified to provide adequate performance as
construction sheathing and may be of non-standard thicknesses, potentially including thinner (scant) thicknesses.

Panel Marking
CSA plywood standards specify various marking requirements, including additional requirements for "non-standard" thicknesses.

Plywood certified with the CANPLY mark provides third party assurance that products are manufactured to conform to all applicable codes and standards.

Plywood with this mark is exclusively manufactured by members of the CertiWood Technical Centre, listed below:

Download the Market Advisory

Tolko Industries Ltd, Armstrong Division was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, on 02 February, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Federated Co-operatives Limited, Canoe Plywood Division was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, on 12 February, 2007 .

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Quesnel Plywood, A Division of West Fraser Mills Ltd. was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, on 19 February, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Williams Lake, A Division of West Fraser Mills Ltd. was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, on 26 February, 2007

.This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Canadian Forest Products Ltd., North Central Plywoods was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, on 06 March, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd., Engineered Wood Products Division / Golden was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood and laminated veneer products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233, JAS Notification 1443, Structural Laminated Veneer Lumber and JAS Notification 106, Laminated Veneer Lumber on 08 March, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Tolko Industries Ltd., Heffley Creek Division was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233 on 28 March, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

Richmond Plywood Corporation was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark plywood products in conformance with JAS Plywood Standard, Structural Plywood, Notification 233 on 28 March, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.

TSW LAMINATING Ltd. was approved by CertiWood™ to grade mark Structural Glued Laminated Timber products in conformance with JAS Structural Glued Laminated Timber Standard, Notification 111 on 30 March, 2007.

This approval is under the Revised Jas Law, in which CertiWood™ was approved as a Registered Overseas Certification Body by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on 22 December 2006.