AWI continues woodwork standards development

The Architectural Woodwork Institute, a nonprofit trade association representing nearly 3,000 members consisting of architectural woodworkers and other industry professionals, is well into the process of creating a new suite of standards for architectural woodwork.

The creation of these standards, which is expected to continue for the next three years, will define and address each aspect of architectural woodwork.

While the Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS), Edition 2, 2014 remains AWI’s current and recognized woodwork standard, the next generation of AWI Standards will begin to be published in 2018 and ready for use by design professionals and specifiers in planning upcoming projects.

Interim specification language recommended by AWI is as follows: “All work in this section shall comply with AWI’s published standards, latest edition, for grades of architectural woodwork indicated for construction, finishes, installation, and other requirements.”

As the standards are being developed with ease of accessibility throughout a variety of mobile and digital platforms in mind, glossary terms and illustrations included in the standards will be available through links on electronic tablets, smartphones and computers.

AWI welcomes the input of design professionals and specifiers to participate in Subject Expert Review Teams (SERT) and Canvass Teams for each section being written through its ANSI-approved (American National Standards Institute) development process.

Other significant changes standards users can look forward to in the future include a simplified numeric designation system for citing standards, as well as the addition of new performance duty levels which will aid specifiers in choosing the correct cabinet type for its intended use. The latter will be defined in the new casework standards that are currently in development. Future building owners can be confident they have chosen case goods for the correct value and performance required.

While changing the woodwork industry, AWI will continue to provide technical assistance for the users of the current AWS, Second Edition.

For more, visit www.awinet.org. 

This article originally appeared in the February 2018 issue.