The connector industry is one of the unsung heroes in the recent growth of engineered wood products (EWP).
The steel devices not only connect, strengthen and support joints in residential and commercial constructions, they’re also designed to save contractors’ time and labour costs, helping improve engineered wood products’ competitive edge.
Simpson Strong-Tie (SS-T) has made connectors designed specifically for EWPs, such as I-joists and composite structural lumber, since 1994 in the UK. And recently the Tamworth company has been investing heavily in developing this part of its business, spending more than £1m on product development and manufacturing in 2004 alone. The company launches about 12 products a year.
New managing director Malcolm Paulson said: “We see the engineered wood products market growing by about 12% per year for the next four to five years. We’ve put in place a strong team to find what the needs of the market are and now feel in a position to grow and expand to benefit the rest of the industry.”
This year the company is spending a “substantial” amount redeveloping and expanding its test facilities to become SS-T’s European test centre.
This will enable testing to be carried out in compliance with requirements of European Technical Approval Guideline 015 (for timber to timber hangers and connectors) and with EN845 (for timber to masonry hangers and connectors). It will also support the company’s drive towards CE marking of products.
The facility features two timber/EWP conditioning chambers to condition timber prior to testing and rigs to test loading. It allows SS-T to test products exhaustively before they are sent to accredited independent testers such as TRADA and CERAM.
SS-T project engineer Paul Clayton said: “At Tamworth we can get hangers onto the market a lot quicker, speeding up development and solving problems beforehand.”
Masonry hanger development
Mr Clayton was closely involved in the development of the company’s Safety Fast masonry hanger, which addresses the problem of floor collapses during construction work. The hanger, which supports floor joists without the need for masonry above the top flange, has become the company’s most successful product.
SS-T’s EWP team is Richard Jarvis, John Young and Paul Reynolds. They focus purely on engineered floors, truss rafters and timber frame and, among their projects, has been a survey of 78 I-joist distributors, to evaluate their changing needs now and in the future.
Inevitably, training and education are hot topics.
Mr Jarvis, who heads the EWP team, said: “These last three to four years the volumes sold have grown dramatically. The number of people in this industry has grown too and the training required is unprecedented.”
The company’s new Continuing Professional Development seminar, called “Engineered Wood Connectors – Meeting the Changing Requirements of Building Standards”, provides an introduction to EWP connectors for floors, explains the EWP concept, reviews current Building Regulations, practical requirements of hanger design and looks at product development to meet ever-changing standards.
Training for floor designers is undertaken at Tamworth, working directly with I-joist manufacturers Boise, Canuk, Finnforest, James Jones and Trus Joist, while production staff at distributors’ yards are kept abreast of developments. The company also targets its training resources at housebuilders, NHBC and local authority inspectors, contractors, architects and engineers.
A mock house floor plan at Tamworth supports all training, replicating site conditions and fixing of joists.
SST’s investment at Tamworth to help meet challenges presented by changes in Building Regulations Parts L and E has run into millions. In 2003/04 it installed a robotised manufacturing “cell” and this year is buying three new presses, a press break and a second cell.
Recent applications
Recent applications of the company’s connector technology include the manufacture of 250 different types of hangers for the Eden Project’s education centre, while the ITB hanger is now specified by seven national housebuilders, including Westbury plc’s Space4 modular timber frame home factory at Castle Bromwich.
Future market openings targeted by SST include roofing: “As the floor market reaches maturity we all need new areas to grow the market. People looking to live in the roof space is a good opportunity,” said Mr Jarvis.
