John Brash and Co. Ltd is the first company in the UK to start CE Marking its entire range of timber deck board products.
The CE Mark will apply to the Lincolnshire-based company’s products, including JB Standard, JB CitiDeck and JB AntislipPlus, after completing training with TRADA for its C16 deck boards. The company had already achieved the CE Mark for its C24 decking through its work with BM TRADA.
CE Marking is mandatory for any product covered by a harmonised European Standard. It requires a complete audit trail to demonstrate that its processes and products all meet specific standards of quality.
John Brash & Co. Ltd’s chairman, Christian Brash, said that achieving CE-Mark status is a proud day for the company, which tirelessly works to drive up standards right across its range of timber products.
“Being the first company in the marketplace to secure the CE Mark for all our timber deck boards is a huge achievement for John Brash,” said Christian.
“Our quest to achieve the CE Mark has always been driven by our singular aim of having a range of products that offer customers clear assurance that the timber has been produced and graded to strict standards under controlled conditions and are fit for purpose.
“Anyone who uses John Brash deck boards on projects from simple decked areas at home through to vast open air expanses, such as walkways and open spaces on commercial projects – like those created for the Olympic Park – can have total confidence that our quality systems are third-party accredited and subject to regular audit and verification.”
John Brash & Co. Ltd has gone through an exhaustive process to achieve the CE Mark, including work with TRADA in setting out additional span tables based on Eurocodes.
Long before achieving the CE Mark, the company graded its deck boards – even though there was no specific British Standard or European Standard (EN) requiring this. It was also well aware that it was flying in the face of the industry convention that suggests that decking cannot be graded, as it is used flatwise rather than on edge, thus C16 and C24 strengths cannot apply.
But John Brash has long argued that timber decks in commercial applications are engineered structures that take a load, so the introduction of the CE Mark is a validation of the company’s stance.
Christian added: “John Brash has always set very high standards across all its products ranges – which also include timber roofing battens, scaffold boards and cedar shingles – and the introduction of the CE Mark for deck boards is another landmark for us.
“We welcome standards such as the CE Mark because they demonstrate that wood products are the equal of other materials used in the construction industry and that contractors and builders can be assured of the quality and performance of our products.”
