AWPB due to switch roles May 15

is expected to become effective May 15.

AWPB Temporary Offices

President Eric Yeadon and vice president and chief inspector

Donn Keefe can be reached at the temporary AWPB offices in the Atlanta, Ga., area. Address, telephone and FAX number are:

American Wood Preservers Bureau

300 Tivoli Garden Rd., Suite 520 Peachtree City, Ga. 30269 u04\ 631-2949

FAX (404) 487-9225 (Auention AWPB)

Hours of meetings by a National Forest Products Association Task Force, approval of new articles of incorporation and bylaws by the AWPB governors and membership and the establishment of a temporary office in the Atlanta, Ga., area by president E,ric Yeadon and Donn Keefe, vice president and chief inspector, have preceded the change.

Reorganization of quality control and inspection in the wood treating industry was deemed necessary several years ago because fragmentation was causing difficulties with the model building codes, buying groups and various forest product associations which promote and educate end users, Yeadon explained.

The NFPA Task Force was formed in March 1989 to resolve the problems. This group, headed by John Hall, president of the American Wood Preservers lnstitute, concluded that a need existed for a single, uniform system of certification. To achieve this. a decision was made to define a new organization and operating methods modeled on the American Lumber Standards Committee.

After defining the required organization, inspection guidelines and enforcement procedures needed to produce the desired consensus standard, the task force deferred forming a new organization. Instead, they asked AWPB if it would be willing to make the necessary alterations to its structure to become the organization proposed by the task force.

This involved changes to AWPB's existing articles of incorporation and bylaws dealing with the structure of the board ofgovernors, definition of the board of review and recognition of independent analytical laboratories. Yeadon said.

Story at a Glance

Reorganization of AWPB into a wood treating industry consensus body near completion offices will move to Atlanta, Ga. board selection underway ...6 billion BFM volume estl mated for new program.

The reorganization approved by the AWPB members and board of governors results in a 37 member board with staggered three year terms. Service will be limited to no more than two consecutive terms. Board members will be allocated according to the number of plants under contract for inspection services, volumes of preservatives and treated wood produced. This gives inspection agencies and their plant subscribers I 8 seatsl wood preservative manufacturers, five seats; whitewood suppliers, five; consumers, specifiers and users of treated wood, nine, Yeadon explained.

"The board of review will have three members, one elected by inspection agencies/plant subscribers; one by preservative and whitewood suppliers, and one by the consumer/ specifier group," Yeadon said.

In its new overview role, AWPB will have a total staff of five with offices relocated from Lorton. Va.. to the Atlanta area. "Under the new program, volume of 6 billion BFM is estimated." Yeadon said.