Bayswood Timber Wholesalers pays penalty for bushfire-suitable timber claims

A Victorian timber wholesaler and importer, Bayswood Timber Wholesalers Pty Ltd, has paid a penalty of $19,800 for making allegedly false or misleading statements about the suitability of its timber to be used in certain building applications in defined bushfire-prone areas.

The ACCC issued Bayswood with an infringement notice after investigating concerns that Bayswood marketed its Meranti timber product as having a certain density and being suitable for defined bushfire-prone areas.

In fact, the Meranti timber was insufficiently dense to meet the density requirements for the stated bushfire standard for some building applications.

Making false or misleading statements about features such as the quality or composition of goods is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

“It is important that businesses supplying timber for use in bushfire-prone areas understand the timber’s properties and ensure any claims they make about the timber are accurate,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“It is crucial that builders and homeowners can rely on the accuracy of claims about building products, including because they may need to use timbers with certain characteristics to comply with building standards.”

The Australian Standard 3959-2018 for ‘Construction for buildings in bushfire-prone areas’ requires timber usedin those areas to have a specified minimum density depending on how it is used, for example in window assemblies, door frames and external cladding.

These minimum density requirements are important to ensure buildings have proper resistance to bushfire attack. Construction requirements are categorised by ‘Bushfire Attack Levels’ or ‘BALs’, starting from ‘BAL-LOW’ and ‘BAL-12.5’ for lower-risk areas, and increasing to ‘BAL-19’ and ‘BAL-FZ’ for the high-risk areas.