Change is afoot: Streamlining standards across construction

It is always risky to try to predict the future, and what follows is based on expert understanding around changes in UK timber and building industry Eurocode 5 yet to be published. So, while this article is somewhat speculative, I believe the time is ripe to lay out some of the prospective changes which timber and construction professionals might expect in the near future.

An overview of the next two years 

While the new Eurocode 5 will not be published within the next two years, the general principles around what changes will be legislated by the various standards committees at a European level have been reached. It is only the technical details behind these changes that is still outstanding which, in the most part, can hopefully be resolved without the need for more voting. However, if technical details do need to go through a vote at the European level, the UK committee would then be able to adopt these agreed changes on principle. There is little reason to believe the process of publishing the new standard will be delayed.

Assuming the agreed changes are indeed adopted, we might carry out some reasonably qualified speculation.

Key changes to technical standards in discussion 

Upcoming changes in regulation will be more akin to those currently practised in the steel industry. Engineers designing timber frame for the first time but with experience in steel or concrete construction will have a smoother transition. They will recognise some of the new methods coming through. 

For the past 78 years we have all worked on the principle that there are only three environmental conditions to take account of: the internal heated environment, the internal unheated environment, and the external environment. Now, we shall be introducing a fourth, the waterlogged environment. This will include, for example, piling, which has been managed previously within the external environment. This distinction is an important one as timber in a waterlogged external environment behaves very differently to timber in a non-waterlogged external environment. 

Other changes will consider the durability of fasteners such as nails and other fixings. The current Eurocode 5 states that fasteners used in external environments are to be coated with some form of anti-corrosion treatment. New Eurocode 5 standards will be aimed at a broad audience and give far more exacting technical and engineering details around the types of coatings required under certain conditions, what will need protecting and what length of nail should be treated, among other details.

In 2004, we thought we had resolved the issues around floor vibrations in timber frame buildings when the 1995 Eurocode 5 standard method was published. Since then, houses have been designed and developed using this method and - as an industry - we now know the original method can be improved upon. This new understanding will be incorporated in the revised Eurocode 5.

The evolution of technical standards 

The underlying principle of any technical standard is that it needs to reflect the state-of-the-art. Standards must, therefore, evolve. Lessons learned from what has been practised in the industry must feed back into Eurocode 5. Standards do not lead the industry. Good industry practices must lead standards. So, these new developments under discussion today are a result of change in the industry. Some new ideas will have worked. Others will not have. 

Over the past ten or fifteen years, methods within the previously published technical standards have been tested in the real world. Universities across the world have also carried out cutting-edge academic research. Knowledge gained in the past decade and a half must now be integrated into our guidance and reflected in the new technical standards.

Generally speaking, the average industry standard will have a lifespan of only five years in its original form. After that initial period, the relevant standard’s committee will take a look at it and make amendments where applicable. These amendments will then be valid for the next ten years, although will also be included in the overall standard’s review after only five years again.

Can the timber industry learn from concrete and steel methodologies? 

Timber, as a material, is produced by organic process and behaves quite differently from steel or concrete. When compared with other construction materials, we must accept that timber is a very different beast. 

It is becoming more important to align construction methodologies across materials, including timber, steel, concrete, brick, aluminium, and glass - anything you might use to build with. The role of a standard is to bring alignment across construction industries to enable the regulatory framework to encompass all materials. The ability for architects, designers and developers to streamline best practice across all construction is what standards committees work to achieve.