With the recent surge of various screws designs and applications appearing on building sites, building inspectors understandably find it very difficult to police the quality and performance of each brand of fastening.
MiTek provides a solution to assist building inspectors and builders in the hope that this initiative will be beneficial for the industry.
Paramount for Mitek is that the company manages as much of the process as practical to reduce building site errors.
Specifically designed
StudLok is specifically designed for structural timber frames produced in New Zealand, and all MiTek products are tested against actual New Zealand construction methods.
Mitek says it questions how overseas test reports benefit New Zealand builders.
It says New Zealand uses different timbers and has different building codes, so having something tested in America or Europe may not comply to New Zealand requirements.
This is even more important with regard to structural performance of timber frames.
MiTek aligns its StudLok screws to the company’s Timber Structure Software and engineering because it says “the best people to determine the truss loading/hold down requirement are the truss detailers using the software”.
“It’s a huge risk swapping out a proprietary screw in substitution for a critical fixing. Who really wants to take on that liability?”
