Need for change

The Four Key Drivers for Local Authorities and Housing Associations

• Low cost construction
• Low maintenance costs
• Low running costs
• Low impact on the environment

The need to change the way we build.

It is widely accepted, post Egan Report, that building practices have to change; that ways must be found to re-skill, improve productivity, reduce the impact of development on the environment, improve quality and provide higher standards for homeowners.

Off-site fabrication is the way to achieve this change: creating as much of a building as possible in a controlled environment, leaving as little as possible to the vagaries of the weather and on-site labour skills.

Timber Frame manufacturers are in the forefront of this revolution, investing in new, highly automated plants. Fully integrated computer design, engineering and manufacturing systems can produce the frame of a complete house quickly and accurately, increasing the predictability and pace of building programmes.

Instead of daily spiralling subcontractor costs, Timber Frame offers a fixed price, fixed term solution for the supply and erection of the superstructure of a building.

Sustainability

The UKTFA actively encourages its Members to provide evidence that the timber used comes from a sustainable managed source. This ensures forest management is effectively controlled and regulated.

There is emerging an internationally recognised credible system of third party timber certification and labelling that allows timber companies to provide assurances that their timber derives from sustainable managed sources.

The UKTFA together with numerous other organisations are committed to supporting and improving these initiatives. This is influenced by the Government’s commitment to sustainable development, its programme for reducing the threat of climate change, the European Union’s collective commitment to decrease CO2 emissions and the challenge for greater sustainability in the construction industry.

The UKTFA encourages the work of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Pan European Forest Certification) and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) in this regard.