BES6001 standard failing the test for responsible sourcing

As part of the consultation on the BES 6001 standard for the ‘Responsible sourcing of construction products’, BWF has expressed its views to BRE that if the standard is to achieve the same level of credibility as material stewardship schemes such as FSC and PEFC, then it would need to see some major changes.

BES 6001 has been heavily promoted as an ‘Environmental and Sustainability Standard’, with certificate holders marketing it as comparable to, or better than, the material stewardship schemes that timber has in place. The BWF has grave concerns about these claims and maintains that BES 6001 is not comparable to timber certification schemes for the simple reason that the standard does not promote sustainable natural resource management and raw material stewardship.

With the standard very much geared towards heavier processing industries such as aggregates and steel, it is poorly suited for different material supply chains, especially ones that are less process intensive, and it does not adequately accommodate the different sizes of business who provide construction products, both in terms of those looking at certification, and those within the supply chain who have obligations linked to the certificate holder.

BWF Policy Executive Matt Mahony commented:

“The basic cost of implementing BES 6001 runs in to tens of thousands, but the question remains as to what this actually delivers in terms of genuinely responsible sourcing. A company supplying products of dubious extraction or origin would score well providing they had process management systems in place, but the small company supplying only certified timber would be penalised. In this sense BES 6001 is ‘failing the Ronseal test’ and not delivering what it claims.”

“In the broader interest of supporting sustainable construction, we have no issue with businesses within other material sectors working to source products responsibly through their own sector schemes. These sectors clearly have the potential to develop mechanisms that will eventually give consumers genuine confidence in the legality and sustainability of their product. They should be rewarded when this happens, and not before.”

With a number of large process heavy businesses having verified business management practices in place (OHSAS 18001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 etc), in many cases these businesses cannot fail to meet the requirements of BES 6001.

But in the case of a timber construction product, a purchaser is likely to find that responsible sourcing issues for their product have already been addressed in the supply chain. Timber sector businesses will be following their legal requirements under the EUTR (whereby due diligence is carried out on the source of the timber product), and, crucially, they may have FSC and/or PEFC certification on top of that, which now also encapsulates issues such as health and safety.

Construction product manufacturers, such as those who make joinery products, will soon need to meet the requirements of CE marking, which include having a written Factory Production Control system in place and a declaration of the performance of their product.

If the joinery manufacturer is a BWF member, then they are also obliged to demonstrate they are a responsible and well run business and have a number of measures in place to cover areas such as training, health & safety and environmental & waste management, in order to satisfy the requirements of the BWF’s Code of Conduct.