With timber frame now accounting for nearly 30% of new housing in Ireland it is vital that standards of construction are of the highest calibre.
To this end, there are several initiatives under way that will revolutionise the industry.
A new training and certification programme for timber frame erection supervisors is being prepared by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and Ireland’s national training and employment authority, FAS.
And this will be followed by a National Registration Scheme for Timber Frame Erection which will require all companies to have an FAS-trained supervisor to follow a code of practice in the erection of all buildings and to complete a detailed checklist on every building erected.
A revision of the Irish Standard on roof trusses has also been undertaken – and a new version will be circulated for public comment before the end of the year.
Room for improvement
Bob Davis, manager of timber certification at NSAI, said its inspections on a large number of building sites have identified many areas requiring an improvement in site skills and knowledge.
“These areas include site storage conditions, base slab dimensions, panel erection, plasterboard fixing, vapour check fixing, breather membrane, wall-tie fixing, cavity barrier and fire stopping,” he said.
He is hopeful that the new training and certification programme will lead to a big improvement in site skills and quality.
“We have spent about 18 months putting together a one-week training course for timber frame erectors using consulting engineers to do the work and they have reported on a monthly basis to a supervisory committee,” he said. “This month we are running the first pilot course for timber frame erectors. When we are happy that it will work properly, we will hand it over to FAS. They are the same people that train the building trades.
“Our target date is to have the whole course handed over by the end of the year.”
Mr Davis said the course will be aimed at qualified carpenters – and only people who are carpenters will be certified after completing the one-week erectors’ course.
“That training will be going on throughout next year and onwards. In parallel with that, NSAI will be introducing a national register of timber frame erection crews and each crew will have to have one FAS-trained and certified erector and will have to follow a code of practice and keep records which we will audit.”
Mr Davis said that pretty well 90% of the problems encountered with timber frame sites relate to the erectors’ competence.
Fewer problems
But the good news is that fewer and fewer problems are occurring in the factories.
He said: “A few years ago factories were making silly mistakes such as using the wrong OSB or incorrect grade timber. We have moved on from that and the focus of attention now is on the site itself.
“In Ireland one in 10 people are now immigrants and there is an even higher proportion on building sites, so there is significant training required for these people – including language training issues.”
Aidan McMahon, a director of A-Truss, is among the many who have been pushing for training. “We want to promote it still further as there seems to be a general knowledge deficit out there,” he said.
“What we are hoping for in the next 12 months or so is that not only will timber frame erectors be certified, but also carpenters and roof erectors will have to carry a ticket or card which says they have been properly trained.
“We are trying to promote good practice and a bit more assurance that a perfectly good product going to site isn’t going to be butchered through a lack of knowledge.”
