Court Action Set In ‘Deceptive’ Plywood Product Case

18 September 2007
A case brought against a Queensland company’s plywood grading claims by the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA) is set for trial in the Federal Court.
Signed Consent Orders in the case against JAG Ply Ltd were filed at the Federal Court registry on 10 September and as such become an official Order of the Court.
The EWPAA has accused JAG Ply of assigning a stress grade to plywood products that allegedly failed to meet Australian structural standards.
EWPAA’s charges against JAG Ply are based on allegations of ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’ where a number of plywood sheets and veneers were incorrectly graded and failed to comply with Australian standards.
EWPAA general manger Simon Dorries said the industry saw this issue as a major threat to consumer safety.
“The potential damage to the Australian plywood industry in the event of product failure or a fatality would be enormous,” Dorries said.
In the EWPAA Statement of Claim in the Federal Court, the association asserts that of 150 structural plywood sheets labelled by JAG Ply and purchased in the Brisbane and Melbourne markets, 70% failed the standard for veneer quality, 83% of sheets tested were labelled with an incorrect or misleading stress grade and 17% of sheets tested failed requirements for bonding.

Trophy Captures Imagination Of Architects

A national trophy for excellence in design using plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) has captured the imagination of architects and specifiers across Australia.
Coordinator of the Australian Timber Design Awards Laurel Clarke said the Geoffery Sanderson Trophy, sponsored by the Engineered Wood Products Association (EWPAA), had inspired a whole new raft of entries that will compete in the Best Use of Plywood and LVL category.
“We are well on our way to record entries in this year’s design awards, and the inaugural EWPAA trophy has contributed significantly to this,” Ms Clarke said.
“Early entries have reflected a strong awareness in the design community of the benefits of engineered wood products, but many new entrants from the architectural stream have chosen to compete exclusively for the EWPAA award and trophy.”
The awards are a national competition put together each year since 1999 by the Timber Development Association (TDA) to promote outstanding timber design in the built environment professions. The awards, to be announced in Melbourne on 29 November, are open to builders, designers, architects, engineers and landscapers, or anyone involved in the design or building of structures that feature timber.
EWPAA general manager Simon Dorries said the Geoffrey Sanderson Trophy recognised the service given to the industry by “a true entrepreneur and a real innovator” who was president of the Plywood Association of Australasia (PAA) in 1988-89 and 1998-2003.
Master wood craftsman Robert Dunlop, who has been commissioned to create the $1500 trophy, said his work would reflect all aspects of the beauty, strength and versatility of certified plywood and LVL.
“It will tell the plywood story,” he said.
“It will be a solid piece of work displaying all the qualities and colours of different plywoods – a darker piece here, a lighter piece there – that will entice questions about this wonderful material.
“When completed, the trophy, on an LVL base, will have a length of 6mm laminated veneer running right through it to highlight what can be achieved with plywood laminates.”
The Timber Design Awards will be covered by the trade media and specialty industry publications in Australia and New Zealand. They will also feature extensively in Timber Design, a Neilson Publishing magazine distributed to 15,000 architects, builders, designers and timber engineers across Australasia.

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