Nine joinery manufacturers and two suppliers have gathered together for the launch of the British Woodworking Federation’s (BWF) new Stair Scheme.
Representatives of the 11 founder members came together with representatives of clients Bovis Homes and Barratt Homes to endorse the scheme at a launch sponsored by JELD-WEN UK Ltd.
Companies in attendance included JELD-WEN UK LTD, EA Higginson & Co, Hadley Wood Joinery, MKR Joinery, Kauri Joinery, Elmwood Joinery, RM Jones Joinery, One Step Joinery, Trionic Joinery & Building Co Ltd, Osmose UK and Finnforest.
The accreditation scheme, developed by the BWF’s stairs technical committee and announced at the organisation’s Members’ Day in May, has been created to address significant issues which the BWF has identified in the stairs market.
It will provide a means to demonstrate that stairs meet relevant performance requirements, setting standards for manufacture against which products are verified and enabling regulatory authorities to easily identify accredited stairs.
Stairs will be accredited to three levels: single occupancy use (domestic), multiple occupancy (common flight stair) and fire-protected stair.
All founder members are now undertaking extensive verification and auditing procedures to achieve compliance before the stairs will be permitted to carry the distinctive scheme badge.
“There is no doubt that it will benefit our inspectors to know that, if they see a label on a stair, they can be sure that the product has been manufactured and audited under controlled procedures,” said NHBC senior technical officer Nigel Shapland.
More on this story will appear in the next issue of TTJ.
