The withdrawal of the organo-chlorine chemicals in the mid 1990’s was done with undue haste. This has resulted in a systemic breakdown in the regulation of termite management products and systems, in Australian residential housing. A $ multi-billion consumer driven termite management issue is now reluctantly being accepted and reviewed. Moves are afoot to commence the addressing of this situation.

To gauge the scale and dynamic of these failures, please refer:-

The Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) building advisory service, The Archicentre on www.archicentre.com.au
The residential housing consumer “best interest” lobby group, Termite Action Group (TAG) on www.termiteactiongroup.com.au

Over a period of some eight years the TAG has brought this escalating issue of termite management system failures to the regulators attention, an issue that would inevitably have to come to their attention. Therefore, the TAG could arguably be said to have saved Australian residential house owners and investors $ billions, that based on the Archicentre’s estimate of termite damage and repair for the year 2006 of $910,000,000. The compounded cost since 1995 – how many $ billion?

At time of writing the TAG was communicating the substance and logic behind this systemic regulatory breakdown to key responsible persons and parties, including the Federal Government Ministers responsible for:-

Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB)
Agricultural Products, Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA)
CSIRO, Technical Appraisals

In addition, the statutory body Standards Australia is communicating with the TAG seeking suggestion on how past failures in the setting of AS3660.1may best be addressed.

A PROGNOSIS

A full resolve of this $ multi-billion consumer issue will undoubtedly take some years. As it progresses, and as and when it is appropriate, key aspects of the resolve will be posted to:- www.mabonstimberprotect.com.au

There are a number of new termite management products and systems currently awaiting regulation and CodeMark Certification. This can and will only occur once the regulatory process is reinstated, that process having been suspended for some months now from the first phase of CSIRO Technical Appraisals through to CodeMark Certification. Some recent CodeMark Certifications that fall outside this prediction will be commented on in due course.

THE FUTURE OF BORON PROTECTED TIMBER IN AUSTRALIAN HOUSING

As stated earlier, boron is technically, environmentally and toxicologically the best and the most appropriate choice of timber protection agent available to mankind. It holds a huge bank of environmental, toxicological and related research data generated by a range of universities and similar science institutes, from around the world.

The sole reason for boron not coming to the fore commercially before now has to do with matters of synthetic chemistry development, patents, multi-national company marketing budgets and commercialism – some would say matters of politics too. In any event, none of the matters hindering the commercial uptake of boron related to any technical limitations or performance aspects of boron, particularly so in timber in the H1 and H2 situations.

More will be heard of boron in the months and years ahead. Again, this will be reported progressively on www.mabonstimberprotect.com.au

Richard Kingsley
MABON’S TIMBER PROTECTION