Wood is not just wood

As a certification company for more than 60 years, SKH has been involved in certifying, among other things, products and processes in which wood is processed according to KOMO and its own guidelines. SKH director Oscar van Doorn: "In addition, of course, we are active in the field of FSC, PEFC and STIP certification."

"Thanks to the rise in the use of natural materials, we are seeing an ever-widening customer base for the wood product. Wood from sustainably managed forests, because the trees grow back, is cyclical by itself. Whereas other materials soon have to focus on reuse/recycling to get the same positive appreciation as wood."

Quality processed wood

SKH provides product/process certification for shoring and quay walls in hydraulic engineering to full timber frame houses. Van Doorn: "We are increasingly called in for lot inspections for the applications mentioned earlier but we are also involved in developments such as wooden road portals, light poles and crash barriers." Wood is certainly not just any wood, according to van Doorn. "There are so many types of wood and glue and also the constructive connections are important when processing wood. SKH therefore provides, in addition to certification regulations, many freely downloadable publications to provide instructions for the correct application of wood. Our mission is to get as much, quality processed, wood applied in construction as possible."

Customers, but sometimes also the processors themselves (in the case of STIP certification) are increasingly choosing to use sustainably produced wood with, for example, an FSC or PEFC label. As a result, new types of wood are entering the market. "From a sustainably managed forest, what becomes available on a planned basis is harvested. This can also be an unknown wood species. The durability or processability or workability of this type of wood is not always known. At the same time, there is pressure to use these wood species, which are, after all, sustainable. An owner naturally wants the application in the highest quality way possible with corresponding high margins but that is not always possible." 

Admission by monitors in practice

SKH is sometimes seen as the slowing/inhibiting factor in quickly marketing new wood species. Van Doorn explains that innovations always take time. "We strive for certainty and that requires conducting tests and doing research before we can admit or certify." If that is not possible, the decision is often made to conduct inspections during application. "We can then, if necessary, intervene in time if things threaten to go wrong." A successful example of such an inspection cycle is the application of wood in road gantries. "In 1999, wooden road portals were installed at Zonzeel by the Department of Public Works. These were successfully monitored for 18 years (SHR) and this is now being replicated. Thanks to a demonstrated high-quality product and the market being ready for the wooden biobased product, several suppliers are now active. We think it is great to help enable qualitative innovations in this way."