Introduction
The glulam industry grew out of the need to make better use of short fall down sawn timber and to value-add to that resource.

The resulting product, glulam, is engineered product and requires strict quality processes. When using glued-up sections as structural members, it is essential that the mechanical properties of the sections have known and consistent properties. The Glulam Laminated Timber Association of Australia (GLTAA) was established to promote quality products and to protect the market from those which are unsuitable.

For many years, the building industry has sought an assurance of quality and performance from glulam as a structural and decorative product. Many producers have been striving to meet those requirements and those who have embraced the quality issues are accredited with the GLTAA Mark. They are then able to market their product as consistently meeting the required mechanical properties, because it is manufactured under a fully audited and controlled procedure.

In order to ensure that substandard glulam products are not used, the GLTAA promotes this Mark as an essential requirement for product acceptance by the building industry. Failures of structural members resulting from the use of substandard products will have a detrimental effect on the industry as a whole. For the industry to survive in the long term, it must be protected from substandard products.

The GLTAA's promotion of quality assurance issues and the need for continued research, development and education has contributed to the increasing acceptance of glulam in Australia. Consequently, glulam is rapidly achieving the same level of recognition here that it has in Europe and the United States of America and it will be the continued effort of the GLTAA that will see the product gain the full market acceptance that it deserves.

What is the GLTAA?
The GLTAA was formed by glulam producers to set industry standards and implement a code of practice and policing policy, in order to add credibility to the product and therefore to those manufacturers who are approved as members.

Together with invited authorities such the CSIRO and Monash University in Victoria, glulam producers around Australia have developed the necessary infrastructure and tools for the GLTAA to operate effectively.