Marketplace sampling ensures treated wood quality

llt HEN it comes to getting full lU value for their money, Purchasers want to be sure of a Product's quality. Assurance of quality is the guiding principle behind the quality control system, known as the American Wood Preservers Bureau (AWPB) Program, established by the treating industry. From treatment plant to purchase Point, the program protects the interests of the buyer.

Story at a Glance

How a regional inspection Program guarantees quality of Pres' sure treated wood in marketplace. interests of consumer and dealer are protected by American Wood Preservers Bureau program.

By Truman Phifer American Wood Preservers Bureau

try to serve as a third-level overview organization to help assure that pressure treating plants adhere to American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA) treating standards. AWPB has two basic functions: (1) certifying Quality Control Inspection Agencies; and (2) monitoring those agencies by making periodic unannounced inspections at participating plants and destination points.

I joined AWPB as an inspector in the fall of 1984 following my retirement from the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA). My job is to strengthen the AWPB's overview sampling in the coastal states including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle, plus occasional assignments outside this territory.

One aspect of assuring the quality of pressure treated wood is marketplace sampling by AWPB inspectors and AWPB certified inspection agencies. This has increased signihcantly during the past four years. Inspectors perform samplings at retail yards, wholesalers and government receiving centers.

The American Wood Preservers Bureau was established by the indus-

My previous 17 years of field experience with SFPA in this same territory greatly expedited my contacts with treaters and destination firms. In fact, there are few retail lumber yards, wholesale lumber distribution centers or stocking lumber wholesalers from Texas to Tallahassee that I have not contacted at least once in the past 3-l/2 years, taking core samples from pressure treated wood at most of them.

Destination work is one of the

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