Timber Constructions

Business activities certification body:

  • Inspection and certification of wall, ceiling and roof panels faced or planked, not glued, closed on both sides, for wooden houses (Ü marking/ certification on the basis of the national regulations according to the technical building regulations of the German federal states)
  • Inspection and certification of prefabricated structural members assembled with punched metal plate fasteners (CE marking/ certification based on EN 14250/ AVCP system 2+)
  • Inspection and certification of composite wood-based beams and columns according European Technical Assessment (ETA) based on EAD 130367-00-0304 (CE marking/ AVCP system 1); formerly based on ETAG 011:2002
  • Inspection and certification of solid wood slab elements (CE marking/ certification based on EAD 130002-00-0304:2014 - Solid wood slab element - element of dowel jointed timber boards to be used as a structural element in buildings)
  • Inspection under private law of the manufacturing and assembly of wall, ceiling and roof panels faced or planked, not glued, closed on one or both sides, for wooden houses according to the quality criteria set out in the quality and testing policies of the quality associations GHAD, BMF and GDF. If the results are positive, the inspection leads to the award of the RAL quality label RAL-GZ 422 by the corresponding quality association (i.e. GHAD, BMF und GDF). The combination of the external inspection due to official requirements by the regional building regulations and privately commissioned inspection according to the quality and testing policies of the abovementioned quality associations also results in marketing and cost benefits.
  • Inspection under private law of the manufacturing of structures with nail plate connections according to the quality criteria defined by the Quality Assurance Association Gütegemeinschaft Nagelplattenprodukte e.V. (GIN). If the results are positive, the inspection leads to the award of the RAL quality label RAL-GZ 601 by the quality association Gütegemeinschaft Nagelplattenprodukte e.V. (GIN).
    Inspection and certification of wooden structures on the basis of national technical approvals (ABZ Z-9.1-...)

In view of the increasing internationalisation, HFB cooperates with the testing institute PFS-TECO (Madison, Wisconsin/USA) in relation to inspection services for wood- based panels and timber structures for the US market.

Business activities test laboratory:

The following tests on timber constructions can be carried out using HFB’ s test equipment:

  • Performance of tests to determine the load- bearing capacity of structural elements or components under static horizontal and vertical loads (tests according to EN 594, EN 408)
  • Application-technical tests (e.g. impact resistance and strength and stiffness under point load according to EN 12871, EN 596 or EN 1195 as well as tests according to EN 596)
  • Determination of the thermal transmission coefficient (U-value) of building components according to EN ISO 8990 (testing of building components in the test bench up to a size of approx. 3000 mm x 3000 mm).

HFB’ s lab also acts as a laboratory designated by the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik Berlin (DIBt) to carry out tests within the scope of the issuance of national technical approvals (ABZ) or European Technical Assessments (ETA) for timber constructions.