A new national testing standard for mechanical fasteners and connectors holding timber buildings together gives manufacturers, laboratories, and engineers a single, repeatable method for measuring how those joints carry load. That is according to FWPA Standard T01, the FWPA-funded Industry Standard developed by the ARC Advance Timber Hub at the University of Queensland in collaboration with the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia.
Aimed at manufacturers, testing laboratories, universities, engineers and certifiers, the standard sets out consistent methods for measuring strength, stiffness, ductility and slip behaviour across both sawn timber and engineered wood products, including glue-laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber, cross-laminated timber and plywood. It covers lateral and axial loading, along with testing of individual fasteners and full connection assemblies, generating characteristic design values suitable for structural design under AS 1720.1.
Rather than replacing existing Australian Standards, T01 is built to sit alongside them, offering an alternative route to the characteristic capacities of commonly used timber connection types until AS 1649, revised in 2025, undergoes a further comprehensive overhaul. The standard fills a working gap, providing usable test data to the sector for modern timber systems, whilst the formal benchmark catches up.
For Forest and Wood Products Australia, the value lies in comparability, with a single shared method enabling laboratories, researchers and manufacturers to measure the same connection consistently. “Improves transparency and comparability of test results,” FWPA said.
Released as a 2026 first edition covering Category A and B fasteners, T01 marks the opening part of the series, and Forest and Wood Products Australia has built it to run alongside the Australian Standards until AS 1649 clears its next full revision.
