Quality Assessment Service

• Mechanical testing and evaluation of quality properties of wood and wood-based materials
• Testing and evaluation of quality properties of wood and wood-based materials used in wall, ceiling, floor and roof construction
• Surface tests and evaluation of wood and wood-based materials
• Quality tests of laminated floorings
• Chemical tests and evaluation of emissions from wood and wood-based materials
• Emission measurement in buildings
• Measurements of air-tightness
• Quality supervision of wood-based materials
• Body of the authorized materials testing
• Testing of material parameters
• Mechanical-technological investigations
• Physical investigations
• Influences of constant and changing climate
• Long-term investigations
• Determination of emissions like formaldehyde, VOC, PMDI, phenols, ammonia and others from
• uncoated wood-based materials (particle boards, OSB, MDF, HF, fiber insulating materials, plywood, solid wood and solid wood boards, multi-layer boards a.o.)
• coated or veneered wood-based materials
• furniture, panels, window sills, tongue and groove, laminated flooring, moulds for automobiles a.o.
• finish foils, pre-impregnated papers, glued special veneers
• Determination of wood preservatives and trace substances
• in wood and wood-based materials
• in the indoor air

Besides the current general product supervisions we are carrying out several special tests guarantied by our numerous universal test devices allowing the measurement of forces up to 250 kN (25 t).

Our core fields of competence

The Quality Assessment department basically provides the functions of`Testing`, `Monitoring`. `Certification`, `Research` and `Networking` for the product groups wood and wood-based panels, it is a service provider for the wood and wood-based panels industry in Europe but demand is increasing worldwide for the range of seances offered by this department. Services most frequently called for include formaldehyde emission and content testing, inspection of factory control at the manufacturing plants, collecting and testing samples, certification of building products made of wood-based panels and also the supervision (both technical and also relating to inspection and testing) of the development of marketable products in all controlled and non-controlled technical classes of wood-based panels.

Accreditation

The competence of the department as a material and product testing body for many mechanical-physical and selected chemical tests on wood and wood-based panels is indicated by its accreditation to DIN EN ISO/I EC 17025. As an Inspecting body the department also holds accreditation to DIN EN ISO 17020.

Recognition

The department is accredited for a series of building products by the supreme construction supervisory authority (in the case of Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Welfare. Women. Family and Health, Department of Building and Living) as a testing, monitoring and certification body In accordance with the Building Products Act and with the Lower Saxony state building regulations (NbauO). in addition, the capability to perform these activities has been determined by the German Institute for Bull-ding Technology (DlBt). The department has also been recognized by the state of California as a Third-Party Certifier` with regard to emissions of formaldehyde from wood-based panels. This recognition applies worldwide and Is primarily made use of by the European wood-based panels industry. Japan has recognized the department as a testing center for determining formaldehyde emissions in accordance with JlS A 1460.

Main research areas

These areas are the core research competences of the department:

• Test method development for wood and wood-based panels with a view to a many-sided and long-term utilization of the raw material wood
• Technical factors of influence in binders and gluing in the production of wood-based panels
• Development, analysis and testing of wood adhesives and bonded joints

Standardization committees
Staff of the department act as consultants, contributors or committee executives on various German (DIN), European (CEN) or international standardization committees (ISO). Department employees are also responsible for the management of Department 2 .Wood-based Panels` of the Forestry and Furniture Standardization Committee (NHM) in DIN. of CEN/TC 112 WG 4 .Testing Methods` and ISO/TC 89 WG 5 Jesting Methods`.