The need to raise treated wood quality and compliance with a raft of new regulations are concentrating minds in the UK wood preservation industry. For many, responding appropriately to these priorities is vital to survival. The Wood Protection Association (WPA) is playing a key role; building buyer confidence in treated wood quality and influencing the authorities involved in regulating wood preservation is at the top of our agenda.

While other major wood-consuming markets have, for many years, benefited from third-party verification of the treatment process, the WPA Benchmark of quality broke fresh ground in the UK when it was introduced in 2011. WPA Benchmark has pioneered the third-party assessment of an individual component’s ability to perform in line with BS 8417. Some 17 products and product groups are now WPA Benchmark certificated and the schedule of quality-assessed materials embraces pine, Douglas fir, larch and now incised spruce. The sources of these products are listed on the WPA website (www.wood-protection.org).

Although the early adoption of the WPA Benchmark has been encouraging, the WPA has always seen it as the first stage in a threepart strategy to build market confidence in the performance of treated wood, particularly for external and ground contact end uses. In November, phase two will commence when a third-party product approval scheme for wood preservatives gets under way. This involves an independent panel of experts assessing individual manufacturers’ efficacy data for a specific preservative by its application use class. If the laboratory and field test data are deemed to reflect what a manufacturer is advising treaters then the product will become "WPA Approved" and listed. This was a landmark decision by the WPA board and third-party verification of manufacturers’ efficacy data and WPA Approval will send the strongest message to buyers that the preservative is effective when correctly applied.

For those that manufacture products certificated under the Benchmark Scheme using a WPA approved preservative then phase three of our quality assurance strategy, a WPA Warranty awaits. We are discussing with potential underwriters provision of a warranty that will put the icing on the Benchmark cake. The scheme will be backed by an independent insurance policy and apply to WPA Benchmark products treated with a WPA-approved preservative. The warranty options under consideration include limited consequential losses and not just product replacement.

Where regulatory compliance is concerned 2013 is characterised by three EU-driven regulations that impact wood treatment: The Construction Products Regulation (CPR); the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED); and the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR).

The CPR, with requirements for CE marking and provision of declarations of performance for any product manufactured in accordance with a harmonised standard, became law on July 1. The WPA published a guidance note on compliance with the CPR in relation to treated wood. On the whole the timber supply chain has adapted well to meeting the CPR requirements.

However, the impact on wood treaters and work required to ensure compliance with the IED and BPR are likely to be more extensive.

The IED 0210/75/EU rolls up several directives, including the Solvent Emissions Directive and the Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (IPPC) Directive and requires the integrated control of the consumption of energy, water and raw materials, as well as the prevention of the pollution of water, air and soil at industrial sites. It requires all timber treatment plants with a daily throughput capacity of more than 75m³ to have an IED permit to operate. IED became effective on January 7 this year for new installations but for plants already in operation on that date an IED permit is required by July 7, 2015. The award and continuous retention of an IED permit requires that the plant operates in accordance with Best Available Techniques. These requirements will be set out in an EU Best Available Techniques Reference Document (BREF). The EU Wood Preservation BREF is unlikely to be available for some while but, in the meantime, a Sector Guidance Note (SGN) specific to the UK industry is being developed by a team of Regulators. The WPA is part of the Technical Working Group advising that team and earlier this year organised a tour of 12 UK treatment plant sites, large and small, to familiarise those drafting the SGN with UK practices. WPA is acting as lead industry body on the development of the UK SGN and anticipates staging a briefing meeting for other trade bodies and its own members later this year when the SGN draft for consultation is available.

Biocidal Products Regulation
The BPR automatically became law in all EU Member States on September 1, replacing the Biocidal Products Directive. It contains new provisions that affect the supply and labelling of articles that contain a biocidal product.

Preservative-treated wood cannot be placed on the market unless all the active ingredients in the preservative are approved for EU use. Importers of treated wood, especially wood treated outside the EU, are advised to check that it complies with this regulation. EU approval of active ingredients is specific on source and technical quality so it may be that, even if the name of an active ingredient appears on the approved list, if the source of that active ingredient is not listed then it may still be prohibited. Treated wood already on the market on September 1 can remain so until September 1, 2016 (and beyond if the preservative used to treat the wood is in the meantime approved).

The BPR provision causing most disquiet is the requirement on those placing a treated product on the market to attach a printed label to the product listing the active ingredients it contains, together with instructions for its use. There is a clause that says that, where necessary, because of the size or the function of a treated article, the labelling may be printed on the packaging, on the instructions for use or on the warranty. However, advice from the HSE to WPA is that this should not be interpreted as a routine option. It is frustrating that the official EU guidance document has yet to be approved and published. Until this document is available, interpretation must be a matter of judgement for those responsible for compliance.

One of the most common enquiries about BPR is whether it affects the entire supply chain. The answer is "no". Organisations to whom a treated article has been sold and those further down the supply chain involved in selling the treated article have no responsibility for any aspect of labelling under the BPR.