25 June 2015

Finnish Woodworking industries are aiming at a leap in the quality of construction. Building with wood needs fair rules.

This should be achieved with construction codes that are progressive in international comparisons and an exemplary quality of construction.
The sawmilling and plywood industries in Finland depend largely on exports. Of the products, 70 percent are used in construction.
Yet an increase in the market share in Finland, especially in urban construction, would also promote exports. If no wooden high-rise blocks of flats, bridges, office buildings, schools or day care centres are constructed in Finland itself, it will also be difficult to sell the know-how abroad.
The main obstacle to competitive exports are the codes enacted and interpreted by the authorities. ”Although the construction industry works under the rules of market economy, official codes should not distort the competition between different construction materials,” says Mr.Matti Mikkola, Managing Director of the Finnish Woodworking Industries Federation.
According to him, the codes create extra expenses for the use of wood in construction, which prevents the use of wood on a larger scale when constructing large buildings.
”In principle, the same codes are in force in the whole of Finland, but the cost of using wood in construction is increased by the fact that different authorities on the regional and municipal levels interpret the codes in different ways,” says Mikkola.
As to the European Union, even the codes vary. ”There are 27 member states in the EU, but there is much more variation than this would imply, because in some countries they also vary between regions,” says Mikkola.
For more information contact:

Federation of the Finnish Woodworking Industries
Eteläinen Makasiinikatu 4
FI-00131 Helsinki / Finland
Tel. +358 40 829 4026
E-mail: matti.mikkola@woodworkingindustries.fi