News Release: Design Value Transition
Transition to New Design Values Effective June 1, 2012
The Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB) has issued Supplement No.9 to the 2002 Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine Lumber providing new design values effective June 1, 2012. The only design values that will change on June 1 apply to visually graded Southern Pine and Mixed Southern Pine sized 2” to 4” wide and 2” to 4” thick (2x2s through 4x4s) in No.2 and lower grades (No.2, No.3, Stud, Construction, Standard and Utility). SPIB is in the process of submitting new design values for No.2 Dense and No.2 NonDense to the Board of Review of the American Lumber Standard Committee for approval. The new design values for No.2 Dense and No.2 NonDense will also become effective June 1, 2012. Design values for all other grades and sizes of visually graded Southern Pine remain the same, pending results of testing scheduled for completion later in 2012.
“The effective date of June 1 allows for an orderly transition to the new design values,” says Cathy Kaake, SFPA’s senior director of engineered and framing markets. “The intent of the six-month transition period is to allow the marketplace to begin to use the new design values or switch to other Southern Pine grades or sizes meeting strength and stiffness requirements,” she adds.
Southern Pine users should establish and begin implementation of a transition plan, but exactly how that is accomplished is up to each individual. One choice could be to complete projects in process with the current design values and to begin using the new design values for new projects. Another approach could be to begin using the new design values between now and June 1, 2012 to allow for a smooth design and inventory transition.
The Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) continues to facilitate the dialog among key industry segments to help formulate a unified approach to implementation of the new design values. “We are receiving positive reactions from customer groups and will continue to work with them going forward. The ALSC rulings and SPIB’s supplement provide time for a smooth transition,” Cathy says. Between now and June 1, SFPA will provide more information as it becomes available; check www.southernpine.com frequently for updates, including a new set of questions and answers scheduled for release next week.
BACKGROUND: The last major change for visually graded dimension lumber occurred in 1991 when design values for Southern Pine and other North American species were published based on In-Grade testing of full-size samples of commercially produced lumber. Since 1994, SPIB has conducted an annual resource monitoring program developed in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory (FPL). SPIB is the first rules-writing agency to publish new design values. Rules-writing agencies responsible for other species are in different stages for evaluating design values.
SFPA does not test lumber or establish design values. SFPA’s primary function is to market lumber products and to help users understand Southern Pine grading rules and design values.
Complete information about Southern Pine design values is available at www.southernpine.com.
