The strengths and weaknesses of the trussed rafter industry were outlined by George Watson, new chairman of the Trussed Rafter Association (TRA), at its recent AGM in the Midlands.

Emphasising that they were his personal views as a fabricator rather than those of the TRA, Mr Watson presented a SWOT analysis detailing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing TRA members.

“We have been trying to get 100% membership of the TRA over the past 10 years, but that isn’t going to happen,” he said. “Our industry is very fragile and we are all getting concerned about what is happening in the market place.”

He said housebuilding was up by 7% last year but 47% of the buildings were flats, causing the truss rafter market to shrink.

TRA strengths, he said, were market share, quality of manufacture and software development. However, weaknesses were the fact that only 50% of truss rafter fabricators were TRA members – although they did represent 75% of product produced.

Opportunities existed with large spans, which could now be manufactured in the UK, and attic rooms which were a growing market. Demand for portal frames and web beams was also increasing.

Mr Watson said he saw consolidation as an opportunity. “We can get better by coming together and using our buying power,” he said. “And small fabricators could pool their fabrication services and offer them to major housebuilders.”

Prices and supply

Threats facing the industry included timber prices and supply, said Mr Watson. “For the past 10 years the price has been stable, which has been good for us as we could give customers a long-term commitment on price. However, this year’s increase of 25% is a real problem as we are all tied in to long-term contracts. Hybrids are coming in and we are making it easy for these guys.”

He appealed to timber suppliers to think long term rather than cause damage in the short term.

Being a member of the TRA was helpful when dealing with health and safety, quality assurance and professional indemnity, said Mr Watson, adding: “We need housebuilders to say they want trusses supplied by those that are PI accredited.

Les Fuller, chairman of the TRA technical committee, told members that a lot of time had been spent dealing with legislative and harmonisation issues. New TRA digests had been produced giving information on power screws and gable strap locations, the wind effect on large overhangs and new bracing guidelines. There was also a data sheet on target sizes for attic trusses and others dealt with metal web beams and the fixing of girder trusses.

Mark Murphy of the health and safety committee reported that strong links had been developed with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The TRA is now represented on the HSE’s Woodworking Advisory Group and is also in dialogue with the UK Timber Frame Association on issues including haulage and delivery.

The committee is working on a dust report. “It is hard to control in our environment,” said Mr Murphy, “and we need mutual understanding between the truss fabricators and the HSE to agree.”

Publicity committee chairman Neil Summers said that over the past 12 months the TRA’s website had been revamped and new corporate branding had been designed to give the association a single harmonised style. The website received 38,415 hits in 2006 and Mr Summers hoped this would increase with the new look.

Online training course

TRA director Susan Farrow reported that Napier University‘s Centre for Timber Engineering had been picked to provide an online training course for the industry.

“It is a basic Level One course which will be piloted at Donaldson’s in Scotland,” she said.

The course, which has received European funding, will be in blocks and will be supported by work-based learning with successful candidates receiving a Level One TRA certificate on completion of a successful final test. Ms Farrow said the TRA hoped to build the course up to Levels Two and Three.

Guest speaker at the AGM, which was attended by 70 TRA members, was Katie Livesey, a senior consultant at the BRE. She spoke on the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes and touched on the key technical aspects and compliance issues concerning to the truss rafter industry.