TIMBER
BATTLE OF THE BATTENS:
WHY QUALITY MATTERS
The wise understand the importance of paying attention to the quality marks on roofing battens, as BMJ finds out.
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ecognising an accurately graded, high quality roofing batten by eye is not easy. “For those of us who have grown up in sawmills or spent decades learning the craft of roofing it’s second nature, but less experienced contractors must rely on product marking to point them in the right direction,” says SR Timber trading director Shaun Revill. “With the current high demand it could be tempting to opt for cheaper unmarked or unrecognised batten products but this is very risky for contractors for a number of reasons,” he adds.
Identifying the risks
Revill explains that the most immediate risk is to the contractors themselves and that the Health and Safety Executive, noting the number of roofers injured each year, has clear guidelines for roof work. Its document HSG33 recommends that on pitched roofs the battens are used as secure footholds, but only if they are graded battens produced to the standard BS5534. “If your life depends on something, it’s probably a good idea to make sure it’s up to the job,” he says.
HSE is not the only organisation to stress the importance of high quality battens. The National House Building Council (NHBC) in
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its 2021 guidance document on roofing also refers to BS5534 as does Local Authority Building Control and the National Federation of Roofing Contractors.
“With all of these organisations
recommending or requiring the use of properly certified roof battens it’s very clear that any contractor using substandard, unmarked or incorrectly marked batten products could be held responsible for issues relating to batten failure. And there are a number of those,” Revill adds.
Graded characteristics
Properly graded battens will be dimensionally accurate – BS5534 allows for a tolerance of just -0mm / +3mm on the thickness, (25mm), and -3mm / +3mm on the width (which will be 38mm or 50mm). The strength of the batten will be assured because the slope of the wood grain and the number of growth rings will be within controlled limits and defects such as large knots and splits will be eliminated. “This all matters because of the important role of the battens in the construction of the roof. Battens need to be able support the weight of the roof tiles and to hold the fixing nails securely enough to cope with the force imposed by strong winds,” he says. “A substandard batten can end up being
very costly. For contractors without decades of experience, the product marking system should make the task of identifying high quality battens relatively straightforward.”
Checking the marks
Revill says that ensuring battens are the right quality is considered so important that every single graded batten will be individually marked. A British Standard batten must have the relevant standard number on it – BS 5534:2014. “It must also have the batten size – either 25 x 38 or 25 x 50. It should be marked with the supplier or producer mark (in our case Timberex – TX) and also have a species code: PNSY for Pine or WPCA for Spruce.”
He adds that, over the years a few substandard products have entered the market which are wrongly marked with all of the above. “Therefore, it is always advisable for contractors to check themselves for signs of low quality product such as incorrect dimensions. Reputable manufacturers have gone a stage further, using an independent verification process to check every stage of the production process.”
For SR Timber this means that the SR Gold battens also carry the CATG mark. CATG is an independent UKAS approved certification organisation, providing additional reassurance that the products are produced to the standards they claim.
“This is a lot of information to be carried on every single batten,” Revill says. “It’s important – which is why so many organisations insist that only marked battens are used – but it can be confusing. SR Timber makes it easy by colouring our battens a distinctive gold colour, but merchants also have a role to play in advising contractors on how to identify graded battens that will be safe and technically fit for purpose.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net December 2021
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