Substandard imported plywood in Australia causes concern
27 August 2015While Australia’s planning laws and standards for building product manufacturing are notoriously stringent, there is widespread concern that a growing amount of sub-standard imported building materials are being used across the country.
A 12-month market surveillance of structural ply samples taken at point of sale by Engineered Wood Products Association's (EWPAA's) revealed that 70% failed to meet Australian standards and that the failed products were largely imported.
The Australian Industry Group's 2013 report The quest for a level playing field: the nonconforming building products dilemma explains that the difference between imported and domestic plywood products is that "all domestic producers of structural plywood are third-party certified, regularly audited and the incidence of non-conforming product from domestic supply is very low to non-existent."
Non-conformance issues associated with imported products of this type include higher than acceptable formaldehyde emissions.
The EWPAA recommends purchasing plywood products that have their 'Green Tick' for emissions safety which are only handed out to EWPAA members and to products that been tested to meet or better formaldehyde levels demanded by health authorities.
