Overall, 2014 was an excellent year for the trussed rafter market and 2015 is also shaping up well, albeit with a few "wobbles" in the second quarter.

"January and February started well year-on- year but March stuttered a little and that continued through April, May and June," said Jonathan Fellingham, managing director of Donaldson Timber Engineering (DTE).

This, he said, could be attributed to the combined effects of the Easter break, the run-up to the General Election and the halfyear end for most housebuilders in June. But he’s still upbeat, expecting to "reach, if not exceed last year’s peaks in the second half." Pasquill general manager Ross Baxter also expects "more buoyancy".

"Sales and volumes have risen in the last year and we’ve seen double digit growth," said Mr Baxter. "We’re currently at approximately 90% of capacity and four of our 10 sites between Inverness and Bodmin are on double or treble shifts."

Kent-based Harmony Timber Solutions tells a similar story: "There was a wobble up to the General Election but overall the market in the south-east is positive," said Garrett Dempsey, managing director. "Sales are up 20% year-on-year, with current output occasionally hitting two shifts."

David Scott, chairman of Scotts of Thrapston described it as "one of the most exciting eras of my considerable time within the industry".

"The industry offers an excellent product and service and our housebuilder customers are reporting record double digit profit margins," he said. "Following the election, construction confidence is high, so volumes and sales are continuing to grow."

But a survey of the sector finds the pace of trussed rafter growth is patchy and very much dictated by location.

Trussed Rafter Association (TRA) members, who account for about 80% of the domestic market, report that London and the south-east are where most of the action is.

"Other parts of the country are doing some construction, but it’s much more limited," said Nick Boulton, TRA director. "Those TRA members based outside London and the south-east are having to work much harder and travel greater distances to get the jobs.

Their haulage costs are going up and and that’s a cost they have to absorb – they have to keep the factory going so they need the turnover on the trusses."

Growth is also weighted to residential, rather than commercial developments and largely confined to private housebuilding.

"We’ve seen growth in developments such as care homes, but not in industrial units," said Mr Boulton. "I think it’s because we don’t have a history of using timber frame in those applications in the UK."

Interestingly, he added, when German supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl started to build more stores in the UK, their greater acceptance of structural timber for retail and industrial applications saw them use more timber frame and trussed rafters.

"It’s an area we have to work a bit harder on but it’s really an issue with timber use generally, rather than being specific to trussed rafters," said Mr Boulton.

Pasquill believes that post General Election "we should expect to see improvements in the commercial sector as business confidence improves", while Scotts of Thrapston has seen "some growth" in enquiries for commercial projects and Harmony Timber Solutions said around 30% of its trussed rafter business is in commercial applications.

Residential is market driver
However, manufacturers are seeing most growth in residential construction – and in private, rather than public housebuilding. Despite the huge demand for social housing, the sector has remained "pretty flat", with lack of funding primarily blamed.

It’s not entirely stagnant, however, and Harmony Timber Solutions has developed a relationship with a new social housing association.

"Their work load has risen dramatically in the last six months and this may indicate a trend," said Mr Dempsey.

There’s also been a shift in type of dwelling being built, with fewer apartment blocks than pre-recession and more traditional "family homes" – particularly small to mid-range houses. At least, that’s the case outside London – Mr Baxter pointed out that around 90% of all registrations in the Capital are apartment buildings.

More individual roofs per development obviously improves the average quantity of building materials per plot and equates to more sales orders for trussed rafter manufacturers – although the pros and cons aren’t necessarily so clear. Apartment blocks often have complex roof designs, providing better profit margins.

Still room in the roof
And speaking of margins, thanks to the larger section material used within attic trusses, the room-in-the-roof (RiR) market, which has seen significant growth in recent years, continues to evolve.

"It’s a very big part of the market now," said Mr Boulton. "Few residential dwellings won’t be using that roof space because, as far as developers are concerned, it’s all about maximising floor area and minimising footprint. That works well for trussed rafter makers with their ability to put in dormers and attic trusses."

Harmony Timber Solutions says RiRs are particularly popular in self-build, a "steady 40%" of DTE’s output has been attic trusses.

"People within the industry tell me that there’s a swing back towards ‘cold roofs’ as housebuilders try to increase margins by keeping costs down but I think in the future they’ll look to increase the value of properties by using the loft – it’s an obvious, cheap way of doing it," said Mr Fellingham.

Panel systems part of picture
Trussed rafters still hold the main ground over roof panel systems but the competition from offsite solutions is viewed with interest.

"We recognise the reality that panel roof systems are replacing attic trusses in some cases and have a position in the market," said Mr Scott. "But, while they’re a threat, they’re also an opportunity for our business.

"There’s a place for paneled roof systems but we’ve noticed customers have often returned to specify our trussed rafter roof systems on price. The trussed rafter market has the technological guarantees of its software and the truss products are continually improving with respect to design software, so still offer proven, cost-effective solutions."

Pasquill believes the two complement each other, as roof panel systems are currently only suitable for narrow-fronted properties.

"The different approaches provide different solutions, depending on the dwelling," said Mr Baxter.

Jonathan Fellingham suggested that DTE may re-enter the roof panel market (it used to fabricate the Smartroof system and prior to that had its own SIRS system), but only when demand made it profitable to do so.

By and large manufacturers have kept up with growing demand for trussed rafters. As an example, DTE is producing around £3m-worth of trusses (including metal work and ancillary timbers) per month, with lead times at around two to three weeks.

Keeping up with demand is thanks in no small part to investment in capacity, in some cases in the form of new branches.

DTE brought its branch tally to eight when it opened a new factory in Warrington, Cheshire in January this year. The £300,000 investment is forecast to bring in a turnover of more than £1m on a single shift in the first year. New machinery installed includes MiTek gantry presses and a Randek saw.

The facility will service surrounding areas of Cumbria, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and North Wales and DTE is already looking ahead to its ninth branch.

"We’ve also already identified another site in the south-west," said Mr Fellingham. "It won’t be this year but it’s definitely going to happen and I would envisage it being operational sometime next year."

Pasquill, meanwhile, has introduced new laser technology at its Redhill branch, which, said Mr Baxter, "is increasing production capacity substantially".

The system works by converting design files of roof truss configurations into a fullscale laser image on a manufacturing ‘table’ surface. Jigs are then accurately set using the laser projected truss outline and components quickly identified and placed into position.

Nail plates can then be precisely positioned on component joints. And the technology is set to be rolled out to all Pasquill branches. Scotts of Thrapston has also invested heavily in its trussed rafter capacity both at Thrapston and its Scotts Timber Engineering (STE) arm. At the former it has invested £100,000 in new truss beds and a state-of-the- art automated truss system, while STE opened a new 15,000ft2 factory in Redditch in the West Midlands at the beginning of the year. With the second remote factory, the company will be able to increase capacity year on year for the next five, said Mr Scott.

Meanwhile, in the last six months Harmony Timber Systems has invested in a new open web joist press and timber storage racking. In the near future the company also plans to introduce a new handling solution and to update some of its older machinery.

The company has also opened a new operation in Arklow, Co Wicklow in Ireland. The facility, which also trades as Harmony Timber Systems, makes timber frame structures and open web joists and will shortly add trussed rafters.

"The construction market in Ireland is beginning to turn and we are excited about the future," said Mr Dempsey. "And the currency difference between Ireland and the UK is also benefitting our Irish company. Currently it allows us to ship a load of timber frame panels over to our UK customers economically every week."

He added that one of the most important investments the company had made was in new design staff.

Designs on the future
Of the possible challenges ahead for the trussed rafter sector, a downturn in the housing market (perhaps due to circumstances beyond UK control) and an onsite skills shortage are the most obvious, but a shortfall in designers is also cited.

"It’s the design capacity that will create restraint going forward if companies aren’t careful," said Mr Scott. "It’s important that manufacturers don’t look to poach each other’s designers but start to invest in new blood coming into the industry."

And will those new designers be working in Eurocode 5 or in BS 5268? For the time being, the answer continues to be "both".

"We’ve discussed that a lot recently," said Mr Boulton. "As far as TRA members are concerned, they can design in either – they’ve been running two lots of software and two lots of design expertise for at least five years. The problem lies with the government and the regulators because they won’t make a decision."