HSG168 Fire Safety in Construction was revised in October 2010 giving useful advice to the access industry. Several widely reported fires have raised awareness of the fire risks on construction sites. The most severe have involved timber frame construction. This has led to new guidance for timber frame sites that has raised the need to assess the effects of radiated heat and the possibility of it spreading fire. Wood is one of the most commonly found combustible materials, which will spontaneously ignite at intensities above 0.8 cal cm.

John Brash offer on-site fire retardant treatment for scaffold boards. Please contact us for more information or visit the JB Firesafe scaffold board product page to download technical information.

DI – Dry Interior: these types are not suitable for the treatment of scaffold boards as the salts will leach out over time.

HR – Humidity resistant: this treated timber can be used in most interior, semi protected or short term exterior situations. Scaffold Boards fall under this description. (note, for continuous use over 3 years in an exterior environment, the processor should be consulted)

LR – Leach resistant: the treatment is locked within the timber cell by a high temperature curing after-treatment. These treatments are expensive and although suitable for scaffold boards, represent an ‘over specification’ and are impractical.

Currently, there are several third party fire retardant treatments and service providers for scaffold boards available in the UK. John Brash provides a fire retardant scaffold board that delivers a solution to the time constraints and logistical demands of treating your scaffold boards through a third party.

All of these treatments are clear and odourless making it difficult to clearly identify a treated board. It is recommended that additional identification should be added to boards that have received a treatment. This can include painting or branding, and ensures the boards can be identified throughout their lifetime. John Brash brands every fire safe scaffold board identifying the class of treatment as standard practise.

 View our JB Firesafe Fire Retardent Scaffold Boards

• BS 2482:2009 (number & year of this British Standard)
• V or M (this denote the type of grading (either visual or machine)
• Supt every 1.2m, 1.5m or 2.5m max (support centre for the type of board)
• Identification mark of supplier (this can be the licence number or company name)

In addition, John Brash ‘ink jet’ print a unique batch identification number, ensuring traceability from the forest right through to the site for increased confidence and reliability through the supply chain offering peace of mind to contractors.

Download and view technical information on our BSI graded scaffold boards.

Here is a checklist for ensuring your scaffold boards remain free from defects and in the best possible condition for use on your site:

• If a board shows signs of being accidentally dropped or otherwise abused (e.g. run over) it should be discarded
• Any board with signs of rot or decay should be discarded
• End bands should be checked to ensure they are still secure, and fixed or replaced if necessary
• Boards should be stored in the dry and should have any concrete spillage carefully removed
• All nails, screws, e.g. Hilti nails should be removed and the board checked for damage.
• Splits should be checked. Any split must not be deeper than 12mm in thickness. If a split is deeper than this, it should be no more than 225mm long. Splits of less than 225mm may then be repaired using nail plates. Boards with splits longer than this should be cut down. Splits running across the face are not permitted and the board should be cut down to remove any damage
• Any cut should be ‘superficial’, which means no deeper than 2mm
• Any board that has been notched should be cut down to remove the notch
• Any boards stored for a period of time should be regularly checked for signs of decay, particularly watching out for fungus and wet rot. Ideally, stored boards should have access to a regular clean airflow. Boards should not be left ‘close piled’ for more than 3 months. If the anticipated storage is for longer, then the boards should be stored with ‘sticks’ in-between every layer to allow air circulation

View or download our technical information on BSI graded scaffold boards by clicking here.

John Brash is one of the UK’s principal manufacturers of scaffold boards. Our Scaffold Boards are recognised as the premier scaffold board available and are Kitemarked with the symbol of BSI third party accreditation. Kitemark Licence Number KM 07800 is stamped onto the end band of each board. The Kitemark is a registered certification mark owned and operated by BSI. It is one of the most recognised symbols of quality and safety and offers true value to consumers, businesses and procurement practices.

There are then two classes of treatment:

• Euroclass B (old class 0)
• Euroclass C (old class 1)

For almost all situations Euroclass C is recommended for scaffold boards, however, in certain high risk situations (including for offshore use) Euroclass B should be used.

Interestingly, London Underground has its own specification:

• Metronet/London Underground Standard 2-01001-002 Fire Safety Performance of Materials Ref DPM-0735 July 2007.
• Treated material should be colour coded or hot branded to conform to the standard and only approved treaters should be used.

Find out more about our range of scaffold boards and planks and view our technical information on the product page.

Key environmental factors in any build are on going energy consumption, material manufacture costs, durability and sustainability, installation/build costs including transport costs, and maintenance overheads.

The building envelope is an important design element in the specification of a project and one that if specified correctly can address in part the considerations highlighted.

A key component of the building envelope solution is the exterior material of the roof and walls. The exterior material acts as both a protective and decorative envelope for the structure and contents of a building, and can be constructed from a variety of different materials including metal sheets, pre-cast concrete slabs, uPVC, tiles, masonry, and timber.

The use of timber, and in particular timber shingles and shakes for building envelope solutions is becoming increasingly popular in both commercial and residential sectors due to the environmental benefits over alternative materials and their ability to be used to create buildings with stunning visual impact. Western red cedar shingles and shakes can deliver real carbon footprint savings, in terms of both the initial project cost and the full lifecycle of a building.

Key considerations when specifying roofing materials for external envelope cladding are, heat transfer, weight, durability, sustainability, manufacturing and installation/ build.

Heating, cooling, and ventilation account for the largest amount of end-use energy consumption in both commercial and residential buildings. In the commercial sector they are typically responsible for between 30 and 40 per cent for energy used on site.

The efficiency of the building envelope directly effects the amount of energy required to maintain optimum room temperatures within a building.

The building envelope acts as a thermal barrier between the interior of the building and the outdoor environment. Minimising the transfer of heat through the building envelope is crucial for reducing energy usage for heating in cold climates – and cooling in hot climates.

John Brash uses only Western Red Cedar shingles and shakes. Due to the unique properties of this timber (low density and coarse texture) Western Red Cedar shingles and shakes are recognised as the best thermal insulator amongst the commonly available softwoods. In addition the thermal properties are far superior to brick, concrete and steel. Its low thermal conductivity of K=0.1067 W/m°C  at 12 per cent moisture content makes is a truly viable alternative, helping to keep buildings at optimum temperatures with reduced cooling or heating overheads.

Around 30 per cent of UK industrial energy is consumed annually in the manufacture and transport of building materials.

Shingles and shakes are a lightweight timber cladding solution. With the environment in mind, not only does this mean a reduction in transport costs, but more importantly the elimination of heavy masonry walls and roof tiling can produce significant weight savings, allowing foundation depths and widths to be reduced, with up to 20 – 40 per cent savings in below-ground costs.

The release of chemicals into the atmosphere from production processes has been linked to damage to the ozone layer and to other effects harmful to the environment. The manufacture and production of shingles and shakes has the lowest carbon footprints of any widely used roofing product, while their production also emits the lowest pollution levels of any roofing product.

Western Red Cedar is a naturally durable timber and is also resistant to frost. This makes it ideal to be used as cladding. With the addition of a finish or preservative treatment, cedar shingles have an anticipated service life of 40 – 60 years, depending upon the location and potential exposure to wetting. Once installed, shingles and shakes do not require any retreating. Shingles and shakes can therefore be considered as a viable long-term envelope solution with minimal maintenance requirements. Initial cost of installation should be evaluated against product lifespan and long term building energy savings to get a true measure of full lifecycle benefits.

Timber is a renewable and environmentally friendly raw material. It is widely recognised as a sustainable resource in comparison to other materials used for roofing cladding such as stone or metals. In additional it is reusable and biodegradable. John Brash is a responsible and ethical supplier and only source fully accredited timber from responsible suppliers and all our shingles and shakes are PEFC accredited. Given that the growing of timber itself is beneficial to the environment, using sustainable timber as a building material can be seen to have positive long term environmental impact also.

Timber shingles and shakes can have a bright and vibrant finish or, alternatively, a natural appearance that compliments many other materials. They offer considerable design flexibility, and are easily adapted to both traditional and contemporary styles of building.

John Brash was commissioned to supply hand split shakes and shingles for the construction of the one of the largest a tree houses in the world. The huge complex of buildings, linked by suspended walkways, scaled around 6,000 square feet. The project needed a particularly rustic feel, and showcases an example of how shingles and shakes can be combined to create a very unique design.

In contrast, Shornewood Country Park was a contemporary design with challenging roofing angles that gave the appearance of a flowing roof. The building was part of a sustainability initiative. All aspects of the build, including the shingles were sourced because they were classed as a sustainable building innovation.

Examples of both traditional and contemporary styles can be seen within the shingles and shakes case studies section.

Letter to the editor:

The issue of BS5534 marked battens and the importance of third party accreditation is a long deliberated subject. Being wholly in support of the NHBC decision to only use graded battens on sight, I eagerly read last month’s comments from Jim Coulson in RCI.

Jim’s comments on capacity and industry demand however, are likely to spark some heated debate. I personally believe that there is more than enough capacity in the UK roofing market to meet the NHBC requirements for 2012/2013. John Brash alone would be able meet this demand – our sales of graded battens have trebled in the past four months alone, showing fantastic industry take-up on the NHBC guidance. Crucially, availability is still good from our perspective and we haven’t turned any orders away.

Agreed that if 100% of the industry demanded graded battens from tomorrow then yes, there would be some difficulty in meeting the demand. But the reality is a more realistic gradual transition. Where the NHBC are leading, others such as LABC are following… close behind. This will undoubtedly start to filter through the rest of the industry, especially where industry recognised self-certification schemes are in place, such as ‘competent roofer’.

My question to the industry is this: is it really practical to plan for on-site grading? Grading is more suited to a factory procedure, ensuring better consistency, improved efficiency and thereby completely removing the pressure for on-site manual grading. A good grading factory can process and accurately grade over 25,000 battens per day, simplifying the process and considerably reducing risk and the need for additional training.

The solution to this problem already exists.

Regards,

Christian Brash