Project Certification pilot great success

Wed 27 Sep 2006

The FSC Board has now approved a Chain of Custody Standard for Project Certification (FSC-STD-40-006).  This enables one-off certification of a construction project and access to the FSC trademarks to promote the use of FSC timber and construction products.

Projects can be new build or refurbishment, residential or commercial, everything from ecobuild housing to sports arenas.  They do not even have to be buildings: temporary constructions such as festival sites or civil engineering formwork can use this standard, as can boats or skate parks. 

The main advantage is that a construction company and several subcontractors can be included in a single certificate, provided the subcontractors are working on bespoke items for the project.  This applies whether the fabrication is on or offsite.  Any contractors supplying items from their standard ranges will still need ‘normal’ Chain of Custody certification.

There are two options: full certification requires the use of at least 50% FSC timber with the balance coming from sources which meet the FSC Controlled Wood standard, and partial certification where certain named elements are FSC certified.  For example, a project may claim in publicity that the doors and windows are FSC certified.

Prior to approval of the Standard, pilot testing was carried out and is proving highly successful.  Ilford Wharf, built by Hollybrook Homes for housing association Tower Homes, is a five storey timber framed construction of 73 mixed-tenure, affordable, apartments – 25 of them specifically for “key workers” and 15 of them to be offered on a shared-ownership basis.  FSC accredited certification body BM TRADA and FSC certified company Glenalmond Timber, whose Ultrajoists were used as a major component of the building, supported the project through the process.  It is due to be completed early in 2007.  The 50% minimum of FSC content has easily been exceeded, but the actual amount will not be known until BM TRADA’s final audit.

“This is one of the most exciting projects we have ever been involved with,” said Glenalmond Managing Director Fraser Steele. “We have been FSC certified since 2001, using specially processed timbers from Scottish forests, and more recently from a specialist sawmill at Kurekss in Latvia. But this is the first time we have been able to ensure totally provable “chain of custody” supply though every link in the chain of suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors.

It’s a landmark development, too, for Hollybrook Homes, a husband-and-wife partnership which, in recent years, has been responsible for an innovative range of housing and mixed-used projects across London. “The Ilford Wharf scheme has already generated tremendous interest both nationally and internationally,” said Hollybrook’s Andy Suttle.  “Everyone from builders, architects and housing associations to Greenpeace is watching progress with great interest,” he added.

For FSC construction advisor Beck Woodrow, this was the outcome of two years’ work in collaboration with FSC Netherlands, with funding from the Doen Foundation.  The standard was developed in response to the need for construction projects to be able to demonstrate their responsible timber purchasing in the real world of construction, where timeframes and complexity may make Chain of Custody certification for each individual company involved impractical.  “It was a great moment to see the building and to meet the team who made it possible”, she said.