| 39 North Sawn Lumber: WPMA REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Dry Frame Protim Micro MCA will be sold under the North Sawn structural timber brand, CodeRight™. New treatment process offers major benefits T T Richard Loader Northland’s North Sawn Lumber has just achieved a CodeMark that will enable them to use a new chemical that is kinder on structural timber and the environment. Trademarked by North Sawn Lumber Ltd the product is called Dry Frame Protim Micro MCA and will be sold under the North Sawn structural timber brand, CodeRight™. North Sawn Lumber’s Managing Director Garth Mortensen says while standard timber framing is treated to H1.2 Hazard Class, there is a growing move towards treating to a higher Hazard class to meet the 50-year durability requirement of B2/AS1 of the Building Code. “You generally have to treat H3.2 structural framing in a full wet cell treatment and then put it back in the kiln to dry. Through that process some strength in the wood is lost, and you get some dimensional instability. “It’s a costly process that also results in the emission of chemicals through the drying process. The new treatment is a dry process providing the same higher hazard class and doesn’t require redrying. It’s a thing that many chemical companies have tried over many years. Koppers have achieved it, and it works very well.” To achieve CodeMark, enabling the product to meet the Building Code, North Sawn Lumber went through Bureau Veritas in Australia, a company specialising in testing, inspection and certification in a range of sectors including building. “Getting to this stage has taken fifteen months, which is a lifetime in this industry, but we’re the only company with the CodeMark to use it. Getting to this stage has been quite a minefield.” To get new products into the building sector and for compliance with the Building Code, New Zealand timber producers have to meet rigorous New Zealand Standards set by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), or alternatively go through CodeMark. CodeMark is a voluntary scheme that proves a building product or method meets the requirements of the Building Code. “Going through MBIE to obtain a Standard for a product can be very protracted,” emphasises Garth. “The wood processing sector went through the MBIE process over a five-year period to get a revision of existing standards, that would allow Protim Micro to be used, along with a raft of other changes. “It reached a stage of being approved, with the draft published. But it was then arbitrarily scotched. That was thousands of hours of work by a lot of people in the industry down the drain. The regulatory environment in New Zealand is cumbersome, and leaves no choice but for individual producers to apply for a CodeMark.” Frustrated by the experience with MBIE, Garth says the timber industry has a lot to offer in regard to the mitigation of climate change but says the regulatory environment around new products needs a massive shakeup because it is protracted and bureaucratic. “The building consent process also need to be streamlined. There also has to be a good balance between log exports and domestic supply. A reliable long-term supply of logs into the domestic market will allow the industry to survive and flourish.” North Sawn Timber has been part of Northland’s timber community for over 20 years. Starting operations as a timber processor contracting to other mills in the region, the business evolved and now has a timber drying, treatment and processing plant in Ruakaka, and a sawmill in Moerewa that cuts 120 cubic metres a day which is transported to Ruakaka for further processing. Product diversity includes specialist products where high density wood is required in Australia, and fire-retardant product called Flamefixx that also goes into Australia. A range of products including specialised marina products which are precision drilled, and laminated posts and beams, go to the domestic market. “We have every single type of treatment available. We probably have more treatment types than anyone else in the country.” • STEEL • STAINLESS • ENGINEERING STEELS • PLATE PROCESSING • COIL PROCESSING VULCAN IS PROUD TO SUPPORT NORTH SAWN LUMBER 110 PORT ROAD, WHANGAREI 09 438 5826 WWW.VULCAN.CO Maximum e ciency, approved by OEMs for more information visit tenz.nz
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