Our services cover:

1) Undertaking condition surveys of timber structures and elements such as jetty's piers and buildings etc.

2) Carrying out non-destructive timber testing using hammer sounding, probing and decay detecting drilling.

3) Visually carryout strength grading of timber in accordance with BS 4978 Softwoods and/or BS 5756 Tropical hardwoods and Oak.

4) Assess the level of fungal growth and insect infestation within timber elements.

At Aitken & Howard we can supply timber to BS 5268 Part 2: 2002 "The Structural use of Timber" which is the UK code of practice covering the major structural use of timber, particularly in building. In total it consists of seven parts; Part 2 covers the general structural timber, which brings together design stresses, design methods and some general guidance on the use of timber.

Section 1 of the standard outlines the scope of the document and gives definitions of terms and symbols used. All structural timber shall be strength graded and marked under the supervision of a certification body approved by the UK Timber Grading Committee. All our timber graders are registered and certified either with BMTRADA or BRE Certification. The graders are re-assessed every 12 months by the certifying agency.

Section 2 lays down stresses for the wide range of species and grades used, for instance our Greenheart could achieve a strength classification of D70 and our Douglas Fir could achieve SS C24 when the cross sectional dimensions are greater than 20,000mm.