Structural building products specialist Pryda Australia says that many of the timber connectors and strap brace brands available in the market for structural applications in the building industry do not comply with the Australian Building Code requirements.  

Customers can be placed at risk of financial loss and potential long-term failure if these non-compliant products are used in a structural application.  

Pryda conducted internal testing in addition to commissioning authorised independent testing companies to test a range of timber connector and strap brace brands being sold to builders around Australia.  

Tests conducted included salt spray corrosion testing, spectrometer metal analysis, magnetic induction and micro photography coating thickness analysis. The results clearly showed that many of the products being sold in hardware and trade outlets did not comply with AS1684.2-20010 requirements.  

 The Australian Building Code requires structural connectors such as framing anchors and metal straps for tie down and bracing of timber-framed buildings to comply with AS1684.2-2010.  

The standard requires these products to be manufactured from a minimum steel grade of G300 as this grade of steel delivers guaranteed performance. Products manufactured from lower grades of steel may come cheaper but do not comply with the code.  

The other critical specification for steel quality relates to the corrosion resistance of the products. To comply with the code, products must have a minimum galvanising coating of Z275 or 15.4µm of galvanising per surface.  

Pryda has been developing, testing and manufacturing quality, code compliant structural building products in Australia for over 40 years. Pryda products are supported by design load and application data sheets while an engineering team is available to assist builders and inspectors with information if required.