Amalgamation of EWPAA and AWPA benefit to industry GREATER research and development and expanded certification testing facilities will flow to industry following an amalgamation of the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia and the Australian Wood Panels Association. All operations of the AWPA, including its subsidiary the AWPA Test Centre Association (ATCA) Inc, will come under the management of EWPAA. The AWPA staff of six includes technical operations director David Thurlow. EWPAA general manager Simon Dorries said the dovetailing of AWPA operations into the EWPAA framework would have major benefits for the engineered wood products industry in Australia and New Zealand. “Our office and laboratory in Brisbane will gain from access to AWPA’s Gold Coast test centre laboratory, a NATA-accredited facility carrying out most of the wood panel tests specified in AS/NZS, EN and JIS,” Mr Dorries said. The AWPA technical committee produced (through active representation on Standards Australia committee TM005) all of the reconstituted wood panel standards and test methods covered under AS/NZS 1859 and 4266 series for particleboard, dry processed fibreboard, decorative overlay wood panels and wet processed fibreboard The committee also produced the Australian Standard 1860 Parts 1 and 2, Particleboard Flooring and Installation of Particleboard Flooring, and provides input to regional and ISO Standards development. The EWPAA has a proud history that is continuous back to May 1934 when nine Queensland manufacturers founded the Queensland Veneer and Plywood Board. This developed into the Australian Plywood Board in January 1939. The name was changed to the Plywood Association of Australia Ltd in May 1966 and then to Plywood Association of Australasia Ltd in June 2002. It became the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia in 2006 to more accurately reflect its membership base and products. Independent of government assistance, the EWPAA is funded on a voluntary basis by veneer, plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) manufacturers in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Products manufactured and merchandised by members include the traditional interior, exterior and marine plywood, a wide range of modern engineered wood products encompassing structural plywoods used for formwork, residential and commercial flooring, wind and earthquake bracing and feature cladding, and LVL and I-beam products used in both commercial and residential structures |
