Interim Standard - Structural Products

The objective of this Interim Standard is to provide recycled timber manufacturers, suppliers and users with requirements for visually grading recycled hardwood timber intended for use in structural applications.

For decorative applications, please see the relevant interim standard here.

The Standard is an Interim Standard, as this is the first time national visual grading rules have been developed for recycled timber in Australia. It is intended that after a period of application and use, the Interim Standard will be reviewed and amended and then will be submitted to Standards Australia for consideration for development as a formal Australian Standard. In respect of the application of this Standard, statements expressed in mandatory terms in notes to tables or diagrams are deemed to be requirements of this Standard.

This industry standard applies to recycled hardwood only and sets grade descriptions for structural recycled timber products. Recycled timber is timber that has been previously used and served its initial purpose. Recycled timber may be recovered from use for re-use either in its original size or re-manufactured to smaller dimensions.

This Standard covers:

  • Small end-section timbers less than 0.012 m2 (eg 200 mm x 50 mm) from timber that has been sawn from larger members (eg girders, power poles)
  • Structural timber recovered from previous use (eg floor joists, roof framing) large end-section members greater than 0.012 m2 (eg 300 mm x 300 mm) in cross-section that have been recovered from previous use (eg girders) or have been sawn from larger members.

The following documents are referred to in this Standard:

AS 1604.1 Timber - Specifications for preservative treatment - Part 1: Sawn and round timber

AS 1684 Residential timber framed construction

AS 1720.1 Timber structures, Part 1: Design Methods

AS 2082 Timber - Hardwood - Visually stress graded for structural purposes

AS 3818.1 Timber - Heavy structural products - Visually graded - Part 1: General requirements

AS 3818.7 Timber - Heavy structural products - Visually graded - Part 7: Large cross-section
sawn hardwood engineering timbers

AS/NZS 1080.1 Timber - Methods of Test - Method 1: Moisture content

AS/NZS 4491 Timber - Glossary of terms in timber related Standards

Industry Standards
FWPA PN06.1039 - Recycled Timber - Visually Graded Recycled Decorative Products

This section contains the following resources:

  • Interim Industry Standard Recycled Timber - Visually Stress Graded Recycled Timber for Structural Purposes - this document covers various aspects of processing recycled timber including but not limited to grading, species, preservative treatments, surface and finish imperfections and manufacture.While this document is specific to hardwood, some guidance on the use of recycled softwood is also provided in Appendix D.

(You need to be logged in to WoodSolutions to download resources from this section)

Links:
Recycled hardwood span tables - span tables have been prepared for the four species groups (A to D) using the RG1 recycled grade for wind classifications N1 to N3 and C1 to C2.

External Links:

Australian Building Codes Board website - the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) is a joint initiative of all levels of Australian Government and includes representatives from the building industry.

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