New Grading Rules ln Print

Following approval by the American Lumber Standards Committee of submissions made by U.S. and Canadian rules writing agencies, new in-grade design values witl be included in the 1991 Western Lumber Grading Rules book being published this month.

In discussing which set of design value numbers, the current ones or new ones, the building industry should use, Western Wood Products

Association's technical director Don Wallace said that the new numbers, which have now cleared a lengthy approval and consensual process, are the best ones. "We recommend that builders, architects, engineers and designers learn and use the new numbers as soon as they are available," he said, noting that the testing program was the most exhaustive and massive ever conducted on lumber.