1.

0 Introduction
Grading of timber is one of the required timber processes before the marketable product
can actually be placed for sale on foreign markets. In addition, it is a processes which
entails the sorting out of the timber into groups with same structural properties or
probably similar in appearance. It is done with respect to two manners, those being
appearance grading and structural grading. In Guyana, rules regarding the grading of
forest products are issued by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and within this
assignment, some rules are to be highlighted.

2.0 What is Timber and Grading

Timber is another name for wood, whether still standing in the form of tress or
felled and turned into boards for construction. Many may also refer to timber as lumber,
or differentiate between timber as unprocessed wood and lumber as cut wood packaged
for commercial sale.
Before timber is felled, it must be assessed by foresters, who determine how
valuable it is and whether or not it is safe to harvest.
Grading determines the volume and classification of the quality of timber. Classifying the
quality of timber is known as timber grading. Timber is graded in accordance with the
schedules of timber grades which are set by scaling regulations. Timber is graded to make
the volume information of the scale more meaningful and useful to the sellers and
purchasers of timber. Grading is a key component in marketing finished product such as
lumber.
2.1 Principles of Timber Grading

Grading rules typically include three components

Minimum and /or maximum gross log dimensions

A requirement that a percentage of the logs gross volume, must be

available to manufacture a given product.

A requirement that a percentage manufactured for the log, must meet or exceed a given
quality

3.0 Grading Timber in Guyana with respect to Guyana Forestry Commission Rules.
Basic Concepts in Grading Timber.
Before anyone can fully and truly understand the concepts of grading, its
imperative that certain terminologies be known. Some of these terms are namely those of
a timber grader, a quality control inspector, the supplier and the customer. The timber
grader is the individual who must have in their possession a timber grading certificate as
well as a licence. Where as, the quality control inspector, simply over look the work of
the timber graders and also carries out regarding if necessary. As it pertains to the
Supplier and the Customer, their names speak for themselves. The supplier is simply
anyone who supplies timber for marketing purposes that correspond to the rules of
grading hardwood in Guyana while the Customer is one who places a contract to
purchase the timber produce by the supplier under the same rules. Most importantly,
overshadowing all these is the main Grading Authority which in Guyana is known to be
The Guyana Forestry Commission. They set all rules as it relates to Guyanas forestry and
also that of grading timber; they also issue licence and certificates to the various
personnel listed above.
To clearly identify graded timber in Guyana, the timber would usually have the
following stencilled mark on it:
Produce of Guyana

GR04

STD

50

where Product of Guyana denotes the mark of origin, GR04 represents the product type
reference, STD shows the grade mark and 50 is the registration number of the person that
graded the timber. Such grade mark as shown above is a simple way set buy the Guyana
Forestry Commission to identify a truly graded timber. Note, that stencil marks must be
on both sides as set by the Guyana Timber Grading Rules (GTGR) and should be 25 mm
in height. Secondly, its only the registered number of the timber grader that must be
circled.
As stated in the introduction, Grading is done in two manners, that with respect to
the structural property of the timber, and the appearance of the timber. For structural

grading, there are many methods that are employed for grading. The methods employed
are namely:
Visual Stress Grading this is a very ancient form of determining a stress grade
where by the timber grader carefully examines every piece of timber produced.
Such a process is reliant on the qualification and skills of the grader, hence, the
grader must be well trained.
Machine Stress Grading such a process evolves the bending of a piece of timber
by a machine and accurately measuring its stiffness and hence, uses a loose
correlation between stiffness and strength to accurately determine a stress grade.
Machine Proof Grading this is done after preliminary sorting is done and the
timber to be graded is tested with a predetermined load known as the proof load.
Each stress grade has its own proof stress and if pieces withstand proof loads
without failing, deforming etc, then the stress grade would apply to that specific
stress load.
In-grade Testing for structural graded timbers, in grade testing is simply used to
simply establish the true strength distribution of the graded timber.
Stress Grades it is important to note that stress grades are not appearance grades
and are used for structural timber products. Any product that has been stress
graded has grading properties assign to them which can be used to design.
Quality Control quality control applies to both structural grading and
appearance grading since it ensures that the graded timber is able to perform as
designers/buyers/etc expect. Quality control can either be or Process Control or
Product Checking.
For Appearance Grading, products are placed into groups only on appearance of the
surface of the timber alone. To grade by appearance, the grader must be experienced and
skilled enough to determine the presence of growth characteristics such as loose knots,
springs, cracks, cups, bow, etc.
It leads to say, that grading timber can either be done Appearance wise (Visually)
and Structural wise (Machine usage, etc).

4.0 Grading Timber in Guyana

To grade Timber in Guyana, there are methods used to determine the various grades,
which will obviously show out the quality of the timber. For Guyana, the Guyana Timber
Grading Rules (GTGR) which is set by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is used
for grading any produce of Guyanas forest with respect to the designated references,
GR01 to GR13. The Guyana Timber Grading Rules (GTGR) is design in such a way to
have strong influence on the quality and quantity of defects of the timber parcel to be
graded. Depending upon the purpose of the timber produce, a selective grading system is
going to be applied probably by a Guyana Forestry Commission representative or a
designated grader. For a piece of timber to clearly pass the grading procedure, it should
be within certain limits that are allowed for the respective grade in question. For instance,
if a railway sleeper is found to contain sapwood in more than half of the width of the
sleeper at either of the rail seats, the sleeper will not meet the required grade and will
therefore be rejected.1 So in Guyana, timber grading can be done by a Defect Based
System or a Cutting Based System. Some common Defects are illustrated below:

Other known defects are knots (in all its forms), spring, cup, boxed heart, etc.
In addition, in Guyana, where certification for seasoned timber is required, the
Guyana Timber Grading Rules (GTGR) also sets standards before the seasoned timber
can be certified. For this to be done, the timber inspector take samples of the timber to be
certified at various points which are stated in the Guyana Timber Grading Rules (GTGR)
of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC). To accurately determine the moisture content
of the timber, this process must be done within twenty four hours (24) of sampling. Since
in Guyana, grading is done mainly based on a defect based, the Guyana Timber Grading
Rules governs certain reference types, where the moisture content can surely have an
effect on the growth characteristic of the timber to be graded. Therefore, some reference
types have a moisture content standard set against them in order to clearly pass grading.
1

Guyana Forestry Commision.(2002). Guyana Timber Grading Rules for Hardwoods (Field Ed).
Georgetown: Power Marketing. p2.

To clearly identify to forest produce of Guyana, reference types are attached to them,
which gives a description of what they are as well as certain requirements they should
meet. Below, is a summarized table of the Guyana Timber Grading Rules which also sets
standards for various the reference types in Guyana, along with their description, purpose
and defects allowed/prohibited by the Guyana Timber Grading Rules:
Reference Type
GR01

Purpose
Marine

Defects(Allowed/Prohibit)
Brittle &Rotten Heart (p)

Hewn Squares
Round Timber Piles

Construction
Shipping Timbers
Round Timber

Decay and Rotten Heart ( p)

Sound Knots (p)

Sawn Timber for Building

Piling
Framing &

Bow, Spring, (p)

and Construction

Building

GR05

Sawn Timber for Dressing

Construction
Dressing &

Edge and Face Shakes (p)

GR06

and Furniture
Dressed Products from

Furniture
Dressing Products

Wane, Shake (p)

GR07
GR08

Seasoned Timber
Railway Sleepers
Round Transmission poles

Rail seats
Transmission

Knots, 25mm diameter

Decay and Rotten Heart ( p)

GR09

Telegraph &Electric Power

poles
Sawn Hard

Heart Shakes (p)

GR10

Cross- arms
Fencing Posts

woods
Machined or

Pin holes (a)

GR02
GR03
GR04

Description
Sawn Baulks

Hand Shaped
GR11
GR12
GR13

Shingles
Fence Staves
Hardwood Logs

Post
Shingles
Fencing Staves
Hardwood Round

One or Two shakes

Logs

allowable.

The above table was only used with respect to defects since according to the
Guyana Timber Grading Rules, grading is done mainly and primarily on a Defect Based
System.

The thirteen grading rules (GR) that are known in the Guyana Timber Grading Rules,
surely govern all forms of possible timber produce in Guyana and can be identified with
the use of the following table:

Therefore, before timber can be exported to foreign markets from Guyana, they must pass
all rules of grading based on their purpose and is normally certified with stencilled marks
as illustrated before.
4.1 According to the Laws of Guyana Act Chapter 67.04.

(A) .any timber described or held out as graded timber unless the timber has been
graded in accordance with approved grading rules ,and marked and branded by an
authorised timber grader as prescribed.

(B) any timber or article described as being klin dried air dried ;dry or seasoned un
less;
1)such timber or article at the time of sale specifications as to moisture
content approved from time to tome ,by the commissioner or as may be prescribed.
2) the specification of moisture content to which the timber has been dried as
the date of sale of the timber or article is clearly shown on the invoice of sale ,or is
clearly stated in the offer of sale.
Furthermore, and concluding aspects relating to grading in Guyana, the Guyana Forestry
Commission has set rules namely that of the Guyana Timber Grading Rules so that the
quality of the timber to be exported from Guyana to foreign markets will be properly
graded and hence being of proper n quality standard..

5.0 International Grading System

According to the American hard wood lumber grading system, timber is graded
based on the size and number of cuttings which can be detained from a board when it is
cut up and used in the manufacture of hardwood products, such as furniture, flooring,

mouldings or joinery. Cutting is based on clear cuts, so that splits, back pockets not and
other defeats do not appear in the finished product.
Usually the buyer intends to use the clear material in a board. A higher grade
implies a larger area of clear wood. In other words, the higher the grade, the larger the
area of clear material contained in an individual board. Generally speaking, the higher the
grade, the higher the price of the board.
When compared ,it was found that Guyana uses one of the best techniques for
grading which is the appearance and structural grading system. Using these two systems
the Forestry commission was able to set high standards for timber graders.

6.0 Conclusion
Grading Timber surely ensures the quality of the timber that is to be exported on
foreign markets n hence, completes the last stage of timber processes. Base on research
done, Mr. De Costa of Toolsie Persaud Limited, the head of the saw mill section, stated,
that there are Guyana Forestry Commission representatives who would also ensure that

the correct sizes of trees are felled and at the correct locations. In addition, upon speaking
to Mr Rohit of Rohits Sawmill in Good Hope, he stated that Guyana Loggers would
more have a stronger communication with Guyana Forestry Commission.
Nevertheless, the information acquired, confirm that quality isnt the only
assurance to customers, but grading according rules, would allow saw mill owners to set
a reasonable price base on their quality of their timber produced.

7.0 Reference
1. Guyana Forestry Commission. (2002). Guyana Timber Grading Rules for
Hardwoods (Field Edition). Georgetown: Power Marketing.
2. Jackson, Neil. & Dhir. K. Ravindra. ( 1996). Civil Engineering Materials ( 5th ed.).
London: Macmillan Press LTD.
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