Since the removal of RPS250, NFRC and the Wood Recycling Association (WRA) have been working collaboratively to provide guidance for NFRC Members to give to their clients, housing associations and local authorities, explaining that if the roofs were installed between the years of 1950 and 2007, then they need to provide samples of battens for WRA02 testing.

Local Authorities and Housing Associations will need to get waste wood assessed and tested prior to any work being undertaken as part of their environmental impact assessment process.

It’s important to note that the local authority or housing association should have been aware of the withdrawal of RPS250 two years ago and should have prepared for this regulatory change.

Note that you only need to test one sample of each wood type per job/project. Multiple tests are not needed of the same wood type if the wood was all installed or treated at the same time. The purpose of the testing is to determine if the (potentially) hazardous chemicals used in timber treatment during the period in question, has dispersed over the life-cycle of the timber batten, thus allowing the treated timber to be recycled.

There is absolutely no health risk to the operatives in the handling of treated battens.

For further information, please see the WRA’s Toolkit For Withdrawal of RPS 250.