Following the restructuring of Standards Australia’s Timber Committees, initial meetings have been held to start developing new standards as well as changing those identified as requiring amendment/revision.
The meetings also welcomed members of the new committees, advised members as to why a restructure had been undertaken and detailed what had been done since the restructure of the previous eight timber committees. Committee processes, procedures and responsibilities were also clearly articulated.
The following provides a brief summary of the work programs.
TM-010 Timber Structures and Framing
The first meeting of the TM-010 committee was held in Melbourne in late July. Key Standards for this Committee are: AS 1720 Timber Structures (engineering design) and AS1684 Residential timber-framed construction (residential housing). The following projects have been supported:
- AS 1720.1 Timber Structures – Design methods
This Standard was last revised in 2010 with a key section, connections, having been ‘massaged’ but in need of a major revision. New Zealand is beginning a major revision of their own standard (NZ 3603-1994) and AS 1720.1 will form the basis of their revision. This will create an opportunity to have the connections section in AS 1720.1 to be revised in consultation with TM-010.
- AS 1720.3 Timber Structures – Residential timber-framed construction – Design Criteria
A draft of this Standard was developed (funded by FWPA) and submitted to Standards Australia as a project proposal. This draft will now be reviewed by a Working Group and submitted to TM-010 for final review prior to being released for public comment. The document was previously part of the AS 1684 series of Standards but will be ‘decoupled’ to bring it in line with current loading and engineering design standards.
- AS 1720.5 Timber Structures – Truss Design
A new standard has been drafted (funded by FWPA) for the design of timber roof trusses. The need for this Standard arose following a Coroner’s report into the collapse of a commercial roof truss in South Australia that resulted in the death of two residents. This Standard was developed and co-funded by the major nail plate manufacturers, Frame & Truss Manufacturers Association of Australia, Standards Australia and FWPA.
TM-011 Engineered Timber Products
Key standards for this committee relate to plywood, panel and glue-laminated products. The main standards to be addressed by this Committee include:
- AS/NZS 2269.0 Plywood – Structural Part 0: Specifications
A revised text amendment is to be developed to clarify branding requirements for products produced with “other stress grades” as defined in Clauses 1-5 of AS/NZS 2269.0.
- AS 6669 Plywood – Formwork
AS/NZS 2269.0 was revised in 2012 and the structural properties for F-grades updated. This had led to a situation where contain differing properties for F-grades. A technical amendment will be undertaken to update the plywood design properties and text changes as required for the two Standards; AS/NZS 2269.0 and AS 6669.
TM-012 Timber Grading and Preservation
The first meeting of the TM-012 committee was held in late July. Key standards for this Committee include structural and appearance grading standards as well as timber preservative treatment standards. The following key Standard was the primary focus of the meeting.
- AS 1604 Preservative Treated Timber
Standards Australia identified a number of drafting related issues that required attention to bring AS 1604 in line with Standards Australia’s guidelines. This resulted in the following work program being agreed to:
- A Working Group has been formed to address the drafting issues and undertake a relatively quick revision of other ‘urgent’ matters.
- A longer term revision is proposed that work towards developing and introducing design for durability concepts into AS 1604.
More information?
Please contact Boris Iskra, National Manager – Codes and Standards at boris.iskra@fwpa.com.au or (03) 9927 3240.
