Standards
Learn about the Standards relating to the production and use of timber
Essential Timber Standards for Quality and Compliance in New Zealand
A collection of key timber standards relevant to the production, treatment, and use of timber in New Zealand.
Timber Standards in New Zealand
In New Zealand, 'Standards' are official guidelines and specifications established to ensure products and services meet minimum safety, quality, and performance requirements. These standards are crucial in industries like construction and timber production, where safety and reliability are paramount. They provide a benchmark for consistency, ensuring that materials, including timber, are fit for purpose and safe for use in building and other applications.
On this page, we've compiled a collection of key timber standards relevant to the production, treatment, and use of timber in New Zealand. Whether you are a builder, architect, or involved in the timber treatment trade, these standards are essential resources for ensuring compliance and maintaining high-quality practices within your industry.
Standards of Interest
NZS 3622:2004
Verification of Timber Properties
This Standard describes procedures for the initial evaluation and daily quality control requirements necessary to ensure that timber has the structural properties claimed for it. The procedures apply both to timber that is visually and machine stress graded.
NZS AS 1720.1:2022 (Includes AS Text)
Timber Structures
Standard sets out general requirements for the verification of timber structures and elements.
It includes calculation methods and design data appropriate for commonly encountered structural elements and materials.
NZS 3604:2011
Timber Framed Buildings
Provides suitable methods and details for the design and construction of timber framed buildings up to three storeys high. This standard is intended to apply to domestic dwellings, most residential and some commercial and other buildings, without the need for specific engineering design.
NZS 3602:2003
Timber and wood-based products for use in building
This Standard gives the requirements for timber and wood-based products for particular uses in building so that they can be expected to give acceptable performance during the life of the building. To that end this Standard covers the materials themselves and aspects of design and construction that are relevant to their performance in use.
NZS 3631:1988
New Zealand timber grading rules
Establishes visual grading rules for the selection of timber into quality classes.
Four types of grades have been specified.
Provision has also been made for new crop radiata pine.
AS/NZS 4063.2:2010
Characterization of structural timber - Determination of characteristic values
Describes procedures for evaluating structural properties of graded timber and verifying accuracy of specific grading techniques. Requirements for resolving doubts concerning specified design properties of particular populations of graded timber are specified.
AS/NZS 1748.2:2011
Timber - Solid - Stress-graded for structural purposes - Qualification of grading method
Specifies the requirements for qualifying the grading method in accordance with Part 1 of this Standard series. Qualification requirements include evaluation of the characteristic values from tests of the stress-graded timber against the specified characteristic values for design, selection of indicator properties and establishment of target values, correlation and responsiveness analyses and the compilation of a grading method qualification report.
NZS 3605:2001
Timber piles and poles for use in building
Sets performance criteria and provides a means of compliance for timber house piles references in NZS 3604 and for naturally round timber piles and poles to meet design data assigned in NZS 3603.
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