TS EN 1438

TS EN 1438 is a standard for symbols used in documents related to timber and wood-based products. It helps create a common way of expressing technical information in drawings, specifications, labels and similar documentation, so terms can be used more consistently and understood more easily across the wood products field.

The role of symbols in wood product documentation

Timber, solid wood and engineered wood-based materials differ in properties such as density, grain direction, moisture response, strength and workability. In technical documentation, standardized symbols help prevent the same concept from being written in different ways by different organisations. In general technical practice, such symbols are used to present information on dimensions, grades, characteristics, orientation and material type in a compact and clear form.

What the scope means in practice

• The scope includes documents concerning solid timber and all wood-based materials.
• The standard focuses on how symbols are used in technical documents, not on the material itself.
• It supports consistent meaning for the same symbol in drawings, catalogues, quality documents and similar communications.
• This helps reduce interpretation differences between technical documents from different countries.