County Prohibition on Indonesian Lumber?

[ric]

I agree the CoH position is aggravating. Keep us posted if you find a way to do this.

[Wao nahele kane]

Ric,
At this time, the company in question (I also assume others) are in the process of taking the county to court on the matter (no doubt on who will win this one). I would assume a ruling will come from this matter and who knows what it may do... it may cause changes in the codes themselves.
The fact this company is fighting it in court should they win will still open the doors to others too, so I don't agree they are not willing to allow others to compete with them should they do testing. Perhaps the Indonesians may view matters on pure principle rather than making a quick buck, they are of course a differing culture with differing values.

I think this is a good lesson on foreign relations… make sure the culture your messing with is going to play the game the way you want or you may lose far more than you anticipated in the after math. In the meanwhile this matter is now costing the Hawaii tax payer money as the county is fighting in court vs. simply doing what’s right and accepting the material. The CoH council should stop the prohibition in the best interest of everyone.




E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Rob Tucker]

Good luck.

[ric]

When do they expect to have their hearing?

Yes, I agree, any company that can open the door will open it for everyone.

[Wao nahele kane]

I'm not sure when the matter will be heard. Basically I know nothing much more than what I pulled out of the e-mail and posted here. I have found other suppliers though.

With regard to Bamboo there is a need to include an ICC cert on specific attributes but it ends right there.
With regard to U.S. harvested lumber it is a matter of recognition through the appropriate agencies such as ALS board for the U.S. and the CLSAB for Canandian lumbers both of wich control the NLGA for grading north american dimensional lumbers. The ECC is not that sort of testing agency or organization. Specialty things only.

With regard to ICC and Bamboo, I saw no specific test on the wood fibers themselves as these where already known attributes. I did find specific tests under the conditions of laminating attributes such as those in LVL manufactired beams and such.
I would like to point out the bamboo tests were also focused on the structural elements of Bamboos natural grown form and how its natural structural form reacts under specific conditions. When we're talking common lumbers, such structure form elements are already known factors and tested by the lumber authority in question unlike the natural form structure of Bamboo under stresses. Bamboo does not grow in the same structural form as other wood lumbers.
I've not found any tests by the ICC regarding natural useages of common lumber form woods.
Those test are typically preformed by other entities and don't require special tests by the ICC from what I've found.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[ric]

I think I know the supplier who you referred to, by the writing style (is it Peter?). There are others on the island who will sell you kits and then when you get them, good luck getting the permit. Some have been 'kicked out' of their original company for their practices and are now selling as freelance agents. There has been alot of stuff going on in the past 18 months since this drama all started. I have to commend Peter, though, as he is the first one who was honest about the reality of the bangkirai nightmares in CoH. There is another local agent that likes to collect deposits and not perform, so be careful.

[Wao nahele kane]

Yes, the letter was from a gent named "Peter".

I'm still trying to figure out how the CoH assumes a need for ICC approval on this timber.
The ICC does not test timber or dimensional lumbers, they can test timber made building materials such as plywoods, LVL, PSL's, Shakes, etc, etc but they are not geared nor formed to test or second guess the timber authroities and thier regulations. Bamboo was a very special case issue and is not in the same classification as timber.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Wao nahele kane]

LOL... These houses are pre built and broken back down and packed into shipping containers costing only $30 - $50 a S.F. I have no idea how on earth anyone can compete with those prices considering the materials used. These things are 1/4 of what I was expecting price wise. I just got back 3 replies, obviosly I ommited the county I was building in this time around so I could get some answers.
It's not a wonder the CoH is trying to push them out of the market here... in any case, the county is just shooting themselves in the foot, these are very high quality structures and can only better property values in the long run.

I know many folks don't like single wall, but for some of us, we're tired of living inside the Box so to speak. Now... I'm going to have to kick around the can, this is too tempting.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[Obie]

Better hurry and get your order in before it is all gone.

After the ban on the export of Iron wood, the Indonesian Government has announced that based on a prediction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Bangkirai and Merbau timber will no longer be allowed to be felled and exported as per the year 2014 at the latest since the forests will have by then reached its Government controlled felling capacity. Felling concession contracts which will end after April 2009 will not be extended. This will imply that raw timber prices will gradually increase with the disappearance of concessions as less raw timber will become available. In an attempt to save the Indonesian forests the Government will most probably ban the felling of all tropical hardwood in the same year of 2014. Coconut wood and other tropical Indonesian softwoods are not on the list as yet.

Most of the cheap stuff is probably illegally cut.

[Wao nahele kane]

I hear ya Obie... it will also mark the end of an era that will no longer be affordable or even possible in the near future. So then the question remains - What happens to the value of the existing exotic wood homes? Imagine the scrap value alone… could such a purchase today be considered a wise financial investment?



E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.