A major change in construction standards took place on 31 March 2010, with the full implementation of the Eurocodes. In conjunction with this, BSI withdrew 54 British Standards for the design of buildings and civil engineering structures.
What are Eurocodes and how do they relate to timber?
The Eurocodes are a suite of harmonized European standards covering:
structural design
actions on structures
the design of concrete, steel, composite steel and concrete, timber, masonry and aluminium structures
geotechnical design
design of structures for earthquake resistance.
Eurocode 5 is the suite of standards specifically relating to timber structures. It replaces BS 5268, which is no longer maintained by BSI. Eurocodes 0 and 1 relate to general principles of structural design, and should be consulted alongside EC5.
Eurocode 5 services and products
TRADA offers a wide range of services and products to assist designers new to Eurocode 5, as well as those who have been using it for some time.
Design tools: time-saving EC5 software for timber specifiers and designers
Select the most efficient timber cross-sections for your design, and identify appropriate connections in an instant with TRADA's EC5-compliant Timbersizer and Connections software.
To help with the transition we have developed introductory workshops on the theme of Design to Eurocode 5 for engineers and technicians.
For designers with more experience of designing structures to Eurocode 5, a intermediate level workshop on Connections, featuring practical design examples, is available.
Many new British, European and International Standards are continually added and updated in the TRADA Bookshop for purchase. A List of British Standards (LOBS) relating to timber is also updated on a regular basis, located in the Technical Information Library on the TRADA website.
A bespoke Standards monitoring service is also available via our bookshop. You will receive a monthly update based on the list you supply of standards held, advising you of any changes (or not), to ensure your standards are always kept up to date.
If you are interested in our standards monitoring service or you cannot locate a standard in our bookshop, please contact the Publications Team on +44 (0)1494 569602 or and we will add it to the Bookshop for you.
To view the full list of Eurocodes, plus all the British, European and International Standards available for purchase (10% discount to TRADA members) please visit www.trada.co.uk/publications/Eurocode_List.html.
The Savill Building is a new visitor centre for the Great Park, the historic 14,000 acre (5,665ha) forest and woodland park to the south of Windsor. The brief from the client, the Crown Estate, required that timber from the park be used where possible. Glenn Howells Architects have followed this requirement to the letter: the building is roofed with an undulating gridshell of park-grown larch laths while oak from the park was used for the roof's outer rainscreen, floor and also for external features.
Construction briefing: Embracing Eurocode
The Savill Building, Windsor Great Park, Windsor