Stepping up confidence in timber stairs

Product certification schemes are the natural and instinctive reaction of quality manufacturers being undermined by poor standard competitors and cheap imports. Problems and complaints in the market soon emerge from the use of inferior products, and if left unchecked, create risks which cause damage to a whole industry’s image and reputation.

So it was with the UK’s stair market, which led to the creation of the BWF Stair Scheme, the first such initiative to establish a modern set of national standards and a robust certification process to build increasing confidence in timber stair products.

Benefits of certification

Of course, the consequences of clients installing poor or inappropriate products are not just bad news for manufacturers.  Defects can be costly and in extreme circumstances dangerous for building occupants.

Consequently, product certification is becoming increasingly critical to architects, contractors and other specifiers held responsible for such choices.  And clients are also realising that specifying certified construction products will always give them a competitive advantage over firms procuring solely on cost.

Products certified through a quality assurance scheme guarantee specifiers a high level of performance and ensure compliance with the increasing number of industry regulations and standards. By using verified products specifiers are drawing on the knowledge of experts who have identified potential issues with particular specifications. Contractors will therefore avoid potential pitfalls in specification that could have led to expensive remedial work.

Every product put forward for testing will be assessed by industry experts and will gain approval only after a rigorous examination of manufacturing processes. It’s that consistency of quality that brings huge reassurance to the construction supply chain and its customers.

Certification can also help building control officers and NHBC inspectors identify work that is more likely to be compliant. They can make approvals more quickly as they can be confident that the right products have been used for the job, meeting the right regulations.

Problems in the stair market

“The technical requirements for timber stairs have been poorly understood and so largely ignored for some time,” explains Kevin Underwood, technical manager at the British Woodworking Federation.

“The fact that the main British Standard for stairs is obsolescent only makes things worse. There was no straightforward method for building control or NHBC to verify that a stair has been manufactured correctly and complies with the relevant standards and Building Regulations. And the increasing use of timber stairs in multi-storey, multi-occupancy buildings brought this into sharp focus. If a stair failed during an emergency evacuation, the consequences would be devastating.”

The solution, he says, has been the launch two years ago of the BWF Stair Scheme. “The Stair Scheme tackles these problems head on by setting an industry standard for stair manufacture, verifying products are being produced to that standard and enabling the regulatory authorities to differentiate approved products from those which are not,” he says.

Every BWF Stair Scheme approved stair case is badged with an unique identity serial number, and colour coded to indicate whether it is a domestic, common or fire protected stair.

Behind that badge lies a set of standards covering loading, deflection and fire safety, as well as a number of possible routes to accreditation including testing, compliance with standards, proof of competence and examples of successful applications. Contractors specifying certified stairs have the benefit of not having to carry out costly load testing on site. 

The Scheme help its members interpret and comply with a complex mix of standards and regulations including the new BS 5395-1: 2010, which covers design of straight-flight stairs. By specifying such stairs contractors can be confident the product is safe and appropriate for use.

These product improvements have won the backing of large contractors. Jamie Plummer is a buyer at Rydon Construction and put the requirement for Stair Scheme accreditation in the stair specification for a 31-unit development in Surrey last year. “As a company will always try and source quality assured products if available,” says Plummer, who will be using the clause in future tenders.  Similar decisions have been made by Bovis Homes and other volume housebuilders.

The Stair Scheme also meets the needs of building control. Paul Timmins, managing director of Approved Inspector Services Ltd, says: “The BWF Stair Scheme offers us much needed quality control.

“Statistically, staircases form the majority of non-Building Regulations compliance reporting, and the building control industry has been crying out for a simple control mechanism like this to improve the inspection process.”

New opportunities from technical advances

Product certification is not just about reducing risk. Clients and contractors using certified products can also find themselves breaking into new markets as certification bodies flag up new technical advances and changes in the market that can be exploited. 

One example is the certification for the fire protected common staircase offered by the BWF Stair Scheme. Many contractors would consider specifying concrete stairs in these circumstances but a timber solution offers clear cost benefits such as the opportunity to dispense with the plant used to crane in concrete stairs.

The BWF Stair Scheme allows members to achieve accreditation for fire protected stairs by virtue of the further checks by a partner body, the Loss Prevention Certification Board.

It was the existence of such accreditation that led to Bovis specifying timber fire protected stairs throughout its four storey social housing development in Grantham.

They also benefitted from lower costs, a more homely, improved internal environment (with no need to over-clad concrete stairs with timber), as well as the added environmental sustainability benefits of using more timber throughout the development.

The success of a similar certification scheme, the BWF-CERTIFIRE fire door and doorsets scheme, shows the long-term value of product certification. It has transformed safety standards for fire doors and now 75% of all fire doors are BWF-CERTIFIRE accredited. It is hoped that the BWF Stair Scheme can achieve a similar impact.

In the meantime, the Stair Scheme is helping to eliminate the supply and installation of stairs that fail to meet industry standards and to improve safety for occupants. Those contractors that add the new Stair Scheme to their specification requirements will quickly reap the benefits.

If you want more information on TImber Stairs, visit the BWF Stair Scheme Page or call our free technical advice line on 0844 209 2614.