The grading rules for battens are set out within:

BS 5534:2003+A1:2010 Code of Practice for Slating and Tiling, including shingles.

This requires that roofing battens are graded in accordance with Annex ‘C’ and are marked in accordance with section 4.12.5.2. each batten should be indelibly marked with:

• Supplier
• Origin (i.e. species code)
• Graded BS 5534
• Size

Before 2005, factory or pre graded battens were not available and the NFRC published TB33 – Graded Battens for Slating & Tiling, as an interpretation document and guidance note; this formalised the option of grading on site. The June 2011 revision of TB33 recommends that battens should be obtained pre-graded.

The requirement to mark EVERY batten with BS 5534 makes on site grading practically impossible.

Until recently many battens have been incorrectly marked BS 5534 having had scant or no grading; this situation is now improving. BS 5534 recommends that machine graded battens are produced under a UKAS Quality Assurance Scheme. This is good advice for any factory or pre-graded batten, as the method and extent of grading needs to be confirmed.

Safe Roof System

Following testing HSG33 – Health & Safety in Roof Work, is to be revised. The HSE now recognises that pre-graded 25×50 battens that meet BS 5534 can be used as a foothold, when fixed to rafters set at 600mm centres. If graded battens are used this way then the following safe system of work must also be used:

• the battens are at least 1.2m long to ensure they span a minimum of three trusses.
• the battens are only fixed with the recommended nails.
• the safe system of work dictates that the roofers never deliberately walk on the battens, mid span, between the trusses.
• the safe system of work dictates that the roofers always walk on the rafter line when installing the tiles and slates.

The NFRC have published Health and Safety Guidance Sheet ‘q’ Correct Installation and Safe use of Slating and Tiling Battens to give further guidance.

Within almost every contract, guarantee or insurance scheme and within building regulations, it states roofing should be carried out to the relevant British Standard – BS 5534:2003+A1:2010. Consequently the roofing batten used needs to meet the same standard.

Importantly Local Authority Building Control and Standard bodies are now recognising the importance of roofing batten meeting the grade set out in BS 5534. The NHBC have recently recognised this and it is now a requirement that only factory graded battens are used on NHBC sites (see NHBC Technical Extra, October 2011, Issue 04).

Sustainability & The Environment

Often overlooked, the importance of environmental accreditation when using timber should not be underestimated; this typically occurs at the end of the contract. It is often a contract requirement to use certified controlled wood verifying it is from a legal and sustainable source.

The two main certification bodies are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification schemes). CPET (Central Point of Expertise on Timber) requires legal and sustainable timber to be used on most Public Sector funded projects (see www.cpet.org.uk) and most main contractors have a sustainable procurement policy.

Using certified controlled wood provides the most suitable form of evidence. FSC and PEFC certified timber is widely available, but should be requested at the time of order to maintain the chain of custody.

John Brash’s recommended standards:

• BS 5534:2003+A1:2010 Code of Practice for Slating and Tiling, including shingles.
• BS 8000-6:1990 Workmanship on Building Sites. Code of Practice for Slating and Tiling of Roofs and Claddings.
• NFRC Health and Safety guidance Sheet ‘q’ Correct Installation and Safe use of Slating and Tiling Battens.
• NFRC Technical Bulletin 33 Graded Battens for Slating and Tiling.
• Health and Safety Executive HSG 33 – Health and Safety in Roof Work.

Using our JB-RED fully factory graded roofing batten makes life easy for the distributor, merchant and contractor.

This requires that roofing battens are graded in accordance with Annex ‘C’ and are marked in accordance with section 4.12.5.2. each batten should be indelibly marked with:

• Supplier
• Origin (i.e. species code)
• Graded BS 5534
• Size

Before 2005, factory or pre graded battens were not available and the NFRC published TB33 – Graded Battens for Slating & Tiling, as an interpretation document and guidance note; this formalised the option of grading on site. The June 2011 revision of TB33 recommends that battens should be obtained pre-graded.

The requirement to mark EVERY batten with BS 5534 makes on site grading almost practically impossible.

Until recently, many battens have been incorrectly marked BS 5534 having had scant or no grading; this situation is now improving.  BS 5534 recommends that machine graded battens are produced under a UKAS Quality Assurance Scheme. This is good advice for any factory or pre-graded batten, as the method and extent of grading needs to be confirmed.

Blue Label Shingles are 100% clear, 100% edge grain and 100% heartwood. The Western Red Cedar Shingle and Shake Bureau is a member organisation that is recognised as having some of the highest quality standards. It owns the trademarks of CertiGrade and CertiSplit.  Care must be taken when buying Shingles and Shakes as the quality can be very variable. Poor quality Shingles can exhibit cell collapse, contain too many narrow shingles or not have sufficient coverage.

John Brash takes great care in assessing the third party accreditation of its suppliers and only uses Canadian Shingles and Shakes.

The use of anti-slip inserts is a personal choice for domestic timber decks and careful care and maintenance with regular cleaning may negate the need for inserts.

However, for commercial applications The HSE has a technical information sheet – Assessing the slip resistance of flooring. If the timber deck is wet, has liquid spilt upon it or has not been maintained and cleaned, the deck may not meet the ‘low slip potential’ and may even have a high slip potential. The law requires that floors must not be slippery so that they put people’s safety at risk (The Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992).

Scaffold Boards can be either visually graded or machine graded. Machine grading applies a set load to each board and a deflection measured. This is the most consistent way to grade scaffold boards. Common defects that are hard to visually assess, such as slope of grain, are detected. Slope of grain is one of the most common causes of board failure, after damage and overloading.

For old boards in use, the NASC have published a grading guide TG5:10 (Timber scaffold boards – An introduction to the revised standard BS 2482:2009). This can be ordered via the NASC website for a nominal fee.

British Standard boards can be readily identified. The boards must be marked with BS 2482:2009, license number or supplier identification, support span, M or V (visual or machine grading) and ideally third party assessment logo (typically the Kitemark).

Care and maintenance: The NASC have published a guide TG6:10 (Care and maintenance of scaffold boards). Once graded a scaffold board requires no further testing.

Failure is due to the widespread practice of using roofing battens which are below recommended sizes, or which have serious flaws or defects. This means it may not be possible to secure adequate mechanical fixings into the roofing batten, or the batten may not be able to support the loads on the roof.

The following pictures show some of the defects that can occur with battens:

Under Measure

Poor Marking

Growth Rings Out of Spec

Decay

Oversized Knot

Distortion

Requirements for an adequate roofing batten

• Roofing Battens are fundamental to the roof structure. They are load bearing and carry both the load of the roof tiles, as well as any other imposed loads, such a snow or wind. Importantly, they also should be able to bear the weight of a person walking on the roof after completion (although it is not recommended and crawling boards should always be used, see HSE note HSG 33 Working on Roofs).
• Battens also should be sufficiently thick - important when looking at the withdrawal resistance of nails.
• Battens should be an even thickness so that the roof tiles or slates lay evenly.
• Battens should be treated to BS 8417:2011 and have a 60 year guarantee.

In addition, inadequate or ungraded roofing battens

• Have a significant health and safety impact for those working on roofs.
• Could result in the roof having to be replaced.
• May result in the roof tile guarantees becoming invalid.
• Cause non compliance with guarantee bodies such as NHBC, LABC, Competent Roofer, Trustmark, NFRC Co-partnership, Roof Sure, Roof Sure Plus and other Guarantee Schemes.

But most importantly they should comply with BS 5534:2003+A1:2010. Please download our Roofing Battens Checklist to ensure your battens make the grade.

Standard falling lengths are cut at the saw mill in Scandinavia and are subject to a tolerance of +50/-0mm; PET boards are +/-1mm.

The resin insert in both JB Antislip Plus® and JB CitiDeck® timber decking is hard and difficult to cut, however, the procedure for cross cutting deck boards that contain inserts follows:

At the required point mark a square line across the board using an angle grinder 125mm max, with either a 3 or 5mm thick cutting disc (stone or steel both work equally the same) plunge the spinning disc down the marked line and remove the aggregate/resin insert. Once the insert has been removed then a hand or mechanical timber saw can cut the timber without cutting through any of the insert. The cut ends should then be coated with cut end seal.

• Species of Timber
• Dimensions
• Size & Type of Knot
• Wane
• Rot, Decay & Insect Attack
• Slope of Grain
• Distortion
• Fissures
• Rate of Growth

Extensive testing was carried out at the BRE to confirm the grading rules, these are now set out within BS 5534:2003+A1:2010.

Following testing HSG33 – Health & Safety in Roof Work, is to be revised. The HSE now recognises that pre-graded 25×50 battens, that meet BS 5534, can be used as a foothold when fixed to rafters set at 600mm centres. If graded battens are used this way then the following safe system of work must also be used:

• the battens are at least 1.2m long to ensure they span a minimum of three trusses.
• the battens are only fixed with the recommended nails.
• the safe system of work dictates that the roofers never deliberately walk on the battens mid span, between the trusses.
• the safe system of work dictates that the roofers always walk on the rafter line when installing the tiles and slates.

This makes it even more important that battens ‘make the grade’. In BS 5534 battens are load sharing, with this new HSE ruling battens in these circumstances are no longer load sharing and an individual failure can have serious consequences.

The use of ungraded battens can put the safety of the operative at risk, which can put the contractor at risk for breach of his ‘Duty of Care’.

It is not the job of the roofing professional to grade timber battens. All other timber products are supplied to site graded and fit to use; importantly they are also graded in factory controlled conditions within a quality assured production process.

The NHBC have recently recongised this and it is now a requirement that only factory graded battens are used on NHBC sites (see NHBC Technical Extra, October 2011, Issue 04).

Grading on site is now more complex as battens are produced in more countries and from various log sizes and different sections of the log. This gives rise to additional and more complex knot structures to grade and the increased probability of defects, such as slope of grain and distortion, see the John Brash Grading Guide for further information.

Latest updates to the British Standard in the form of BS 5534:2003+A1:2010 sets out new requirements covering these areas. However, this update does not alter the fact that formal training for the roofing trade in grading battens is still in its infancy, with many roofers simply lacking the knowledge to carry out the process on site.

Please see the Roofing Battens Checklist to make sure your battens make the grade.

All treatments are hydroscopic and will eventually leach out over a period of time. This is a slow process and tests have shown that after 5 years of use there is still sufficient treatment within the board. This is often more than the life of the board.

Treatment should now be to BS EN 13501-1:2007 (Fire classification of construction products and building elements), rather than the old BS 476 classifications. There are 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 Euroclass B should be used.

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/hot branded to conform.

• Euroclass B to BS EN 13501-1 (transposes to Class 0)
• Euroclass C to BS EN 13501-1 (transposes to Class 1)
• AAP60 rating BS 476: Part 3:2004 External Fire Exposure of Roofs

Shingles that are treated with a preservative have a ‘CB rating’.