T Brewer 'policing’ the Olympics timber policy

London-based bisTrack customer T Brewer says it is having to ‘police’ the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) certified timber policy, after it had to convince a contractor that certified wood was needed for its project on the Olympic site. The ODA has made a commitment to use 100% legal and sustainable wood products for the Olympic construction project.

A sub-contractor approached T Brewer for treated softwood and marine plywood for a construction needed at the Plaza entrance of the Stratford Olympic site. "At no time was any request made for chain of custody or any environmental accreditation," said Brewer’s director Keith Fryer.

T Brewer warned the subcontractor it was in danger of creating a problem on the Olympic site. The sub-contractor then checked with the main contractor who advised "they had no knowledge of any certification requirement" and just needed a speedy delivery. T Brewer specified PEFC certified treated Finnish spruce plywood and timber to resolve the matter and the materials were delivered in early July.

"At present it is clearly only by manual intervention by suppliers that uncertified timber products will be stopped from arriving on site — that is worrying," said Mr Fryer.

An ODA spokesperson said the incident  highlighted the importance of the Timber Supplier Panel in meeting its sustainable timber policy. "We are still in the process of procuring the Timber Supplier Panel but it will be established later this year in time for the increase in construction activity."

Timber Trade Federation chief executive John White expressed disappointment that contractors and sub-contractors were unaware of the ODA's timber policy. "It is to T Brewer's credit that when they found out their customer was working on an Olympic project they insisted on supplying certified only material." Mr White said the trade, represented by Wood for Gold, would continue to hold detailed and meaningful discussions with the ODA about enforcement.

The TTF has called on its members to tighten up on chain of custody documentation to maximise the use of timber in construction.


bisTrack product notes:
Some bisTrack customers use a special ‘FSC certified’ pack label to quickly identify suitable products. It is then straightforward to send each label type to a different printer or printer tray, to simply and quickly identify FSC products, e.g. regular labels printed on white stationery and FSC labels using a bright yellow paper stock.

Environmental status can be held against each bisTrack product. Special Products created from monitored products maintain the traceability needed for chain of custody.