The UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) has accused the brick and block industry of “scaremongering” about the alleged fire risk of timber frame housing.
The Traditional Housing Bureau, which represents the masonry construction industry, told The Observer that research by the University of Vienna on timber construction in Germany and Austria had discovered a “number of weak points in terms of fire safety”.
The bureau, which also claims to have gathered fire brigade data on blazes which destroyed timber frame buildings, says it is concerned about the research and wants it to be repeated in the UK.
UKTFA chief executive Bryan Woodley said promoters of concrete and masonry products had tried for 20 years to imply timber frame houses were not durable.
He said: “It’s a point of view that fails to sway government or building experts, primarily because the evidence stubbornly continues to prove otherwise – but also because everyone has long since passed the point where they are interested in a war of words.”
Mr Woodley said timber frame meets government regulations on fire, flood and other hazards. He said timber performs well in fire as it does not flake, spall, melt, buckle or explode and burns at a predictable rate.
He highlighted the BRE‘s TF2000 project as a successful example of timber frame’s fire performance and said the government has previously stated that timber frame does not present a significantly greater danger from fire than other construction methods.
