Page 20 - HW July 2022

fasteners & fixings
“New Zealand has gone through a period of unprecedented losses from seismic activity, which has highlighted shortcomings in the seismic settings of our building regime,” says the brief.
Amid rapidly changing building types, engineering knowledge in designing for earthquakes which has advanced significantly since the current approach to building design was developed in the 1970s and research that says Kiwis want safety above all else but also rapid recovery from disasters, there is a drive towards legislating for more resilient building methods.
Says the March paper: “New Zealand’s Building Code has not kept up with these developments. New Zealand’s seismic thresholds for damage are relatively low, meaning Kiwis are exposed to considerable economic and social disruption after earthquakes.”
We’re already seeing some positive movement in this space, says Rob Lawson, Pacific Rim Managing Director at Simpson Strong-Tie, with a steady uptake of better ways of fastening and fixing, and building globally moving to structural fasteners: “Screws aren’t just replacing connectors in terms of load structures, they are replacing everything.”
And in terms of whether we should be building to code minimum or building for resilience, “Life preservation worked in Christchurch,” says Rob, “But we had 300 grand builds facing 280 grand fixes that were possibly not even fixed properly, and it was years before everyone was back in their homes.”
Rob also talks of residential post-earthquake fixes where just plasterboard was replaced, however joints had stretched by 6 or 8mm which, says Rob, could mean the house might not survive the next one.
“Building for life preservation should be obvious,” he says, “But can we build for resilience so that people are back in their homes quicker and the repair costs are lower?”
The way commercial buildings were rebuilt in Christchurch changed because insurers insisted on rebuilds incorporating ‘damage avoidance principles’, says Rob Lawson.
“Minimum shouldn’t be the goal.”
More resilient homes would come with a price tag, inevitably, something that Tait Mitchell at Fortress Fasteners says is just going to drive more compliance and more cost into building.
Having said this, Fortress is also selling more seismic fasteners today than ever before. “We’re seeing a massive increase in demand for people wanting seismic anchors,” says Tait, adding that although a more resilient home be won’t significantly more expensive, larger commercial scale projects will certainly see costs escalate.
Luke Poepsel at SPAX Pacific is another to have seen growth with timber construction screws which had not previously been available in New Zealand in volume or in depth, thanks to the work of the last few years SPAX has put into informing
More costs in packaging & merch
Other increasing costs of doing business in fasteners & fixings these days include a continuing drive towards more eco-friendly packaging and improving your in-store presence.
What’s the new normal in fasteners & fixings? According to Shaun Matheson, National Sales Manager at ECKO Fastening Systems, first it’s about an environmental focus, sustainability and commitment to change.
“You have seen updates on our packaging,” he says, adding:“Keep an eye out for further updates in the coming months and years to come!”
Secondly for ECKO, with a changing market on the way, the focus is on “being different, being innovative and having good service.”
In this respect, a range of merchant stores around the country these days features strong ECKO merchandising, with ideas driven by the customer, end users and ECKO staff.
“It’s all about making the end user’s choice easier, making it simpler to choose the right product for the right job and being assured of quality,” says Shaun Matheson.
Group Product Manager Tait Mitchell and Fortress Fasteners continue to work on reducing the amount of plastic in their packaging by using more cardboard and recycled product.
“The more responsible suppliers are always looking at reducing their footprint,” he says adding however that this shift to cardboard can sometimes backfire.
“A lot of builders still want a plastic bucket, for example. It’s got a handle, it’s waterproof and it can be left outside.
“A lot of people understand why you’re doing it and are on board
but then there are also a lot of people who couldn’t care less and still want plastic because it’s more convenient,” says Tait Mitchell.
Rob Lawson, Simpson Strong-Tie’s Managing Director – Pacific Rim, agrees that going to cardboard appears an easy choice, but isn’t as simple as it seems.
“Some people won’t buy a decking screw unless they can see it,” he says.
Faced with a bay of decking screws – and perhaps without their reading glasses – many just want to see the product and judge for themselves why it costs more (or less) than another product close by before confirming it’s the correct screw or nail for the job.
Plus, adds Rob:“We changed all our plastics to recyclable a few years ago. But the truth is, the builder doesn’t recycle them – he throws them in the skip, and they end up in landfill.”
18 NZHJ | JULY 2022
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