Imported structural plywood fails Australian standards: EWPAA

Australia’s peak engineered wood body has alerted Victorian timber traders, specifiers and end-users that an imported structural plywood product on the market has failed Australian standards and has exhibited gross delamination.
The Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia sounded the warning on the non-compliant bracing plywood this week to prevent its use in structural applications.
EWPAA says that under the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the Building Code of Australia (BCA), two timber standards are called up – AS1720.1 Timber Structures Design Methods and AS 1684 Timber Framed Construction.
Both of these standards require that plywood is used structurally under the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the BCA and must be manufactured to AS/NZS 2269.0.
An inspection of the imported plywood material has shown firstly that the plywood is unbranded with any reference to the Australian standard and secondly, it exhibits gross glueline failure and delamination.
“As the bracing plywood does not meet the Australian Standard and exhibits gross delamination it will not perform structurally for the intended life of the structure and potentially could contribute to failure of the structure in the event of exposure to the design wind speed,” EWPAA general manger Simon Dorries said.
Builders and building surveyors carrying out frame inspections should ensure structural plywood is free from delamination and separation of veneers and branded as follows: manufacturer’s name or brand; the word ‘structural’; face grade, back grand and bond (e.g. DD-A Bond); stress grade (e.g. F8, F11 or F14); formaldehyde emission class (e.g. E0); Australian / New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 2269; Panel Construction Code.
All EWPAA member products are manufactured under a JAS-ANZ accredited product certification scheme and are manufactured under schemes that automatically satisfy the product certification requirements of the BCA.