CLT is an engineered timber product made from bonding layers of sawn timbers together. This provides a very strong and sustainable panel which is ideal for use in offsite construction and is becoming more popular as a building material for the whole construction industry. The treated engineered wood can be used in walls, floors and roofs to construct the full building envelope.

Design using CLT panels falls within the timber code EC 5 but is often considered by many to fall between timber and masonry design; panels act as solid planes and there is no need for an infill. Design by standard will often give a much more conservative answer than design by testing.

The testing within the guide includes thermal performance, durability, acoustic and air tightness, and water tightness of connections, and can be carried out to establish load span characteristics of floors and roofs and to ascertain the maximum span and load characteristics of walling panels.

Author of the guide, Joanne Booth, business manager - construction, said:

“This is the third guide in a series we’re creating for offsite and modular building product manufacturers.

“The guide is designed to help manufacturers launch new products into the market by detailing test requirements to understand the structural integrity and physical performance of both panels and the full composite system.”

The free guide can be downloaded via the Resources panel on the right of this page.