Southern Pine Inspection Bureau

10/15/2026

We're Back! 🎉

We're excited to announce that the SPIB Pensacola office has power again, and we're happy to be getting back to normal operations!

Our telephone lines are still down, so please reach out to us by email or through our website at https://www.spib.org/contact-us.

We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we recover from the storm. Thank you for your continued support!

10/12/2026

SPIB Office Closure Update

Unfortunately, the SPIB Pensacola office is still without power following the storm and will remain closed through Tuesday, October 13.

Thankfully, we weathered the storm and have found no immediate damage to our office or labs, aside from some downed trees. We will continue to monitor the situation and are hopeful that power will be restored and we can return to normal operations by Wednesday or Thursday.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through the aftermath of the storm. We will share additional updates as needed.

Please continue to stay safe, and thank you for your support!

As Hurricane Isaias approaches, the safety of our employees, customers, and community is our top priority. We encourage everyone in the storm’s projected path to stay informed, follow guidance from local officials, and take the necessary precautions to keep yourself and your family safe.

The SPIB Pensacola office will be closed Friday, October 9. We will continue to monitor the situation and monitor email for any urgent needs or questions during the closure.

Please take care, stay safe, and we’ll keep everyone updated as conditions develop.

— Southern Pine Inspection Bureau

10/07/2026

As Hurricane Isaias approaches, the safety of our employees, customers, and community is our top priority. We encourage everyone in the storm’s projected path to stay informed, follow guidance from local officials, and take the necessary precautions to keep yourself and your family safe.

The SPIB Pensacola office will be closed Friday, October 9. We will continue to monitor the situation and monitor email for any urgent needs or questions during the closure.

Please take care, stay safe, and we’ll keep everyone updated as conditions develop.

— Southern Pine Inspection Bureau

10/02/2026

Great Work, Great People, Great Meeting!

SPIB was proud to be part of the recent American Wood Protection Association Fall Technical Committee Meetings in Orlando!

It was a great week of collaboration, technical discussion, and a lot of important work by the Preservative and Technical Committees. With a number of proposals moving forward during the committee sessions, we’re excited to begin the next step in the standards development process as those proposals move into balloting.

We’re also incredibly proud of Mia Vertudez and the way she continues to represent SPIB within AWPA. Mia is currently serving on the Nominating Committee, serves as Secretary for both the P6 - Methods for the Evaluation of Wood Preservatives and P9 - Non-Biocidal Wood Protection Committees, and this meeting we had another reason to celebrate: her first proposal successfully moved forward through T7 - Quality Control!

Mia’s proposal provides clarification to the inspection requirements in AWPA Standard M22 -Standard for Third-Party Agency Evaluation of Inspection Data, and it was great to see her take an active role in the standards development process. Participation is what keeps our industry moving forward, and we love seeing the next generation of SPIB professionals getting involved, contributing ideas, and taking on leadership roles.

And we’re not finished talking about the science we saw in Orlando! Stay tuned for more of our SPIB “Want to Know More?” series, where we’ll continue taking a closer look at the science behind treated wood inspection, quality control, and analysis.

Coming up soon: How do inspectors know whether preservative has penetrated far enough into the wood? We’ll look at the visual indicators used in the field to evaluate preservative pe*******on and the chemistry that makes those reactions possible.

Quality.Together

09/28/2026

SPIB is excited to introduce Lumber Logic: a new centralized resource for SPIB media, training aids, and technical materials.

Subscribers can access training videos and resources, grading pocket guides, the latest ALSC guidelines, and more, all in one central location. The portal also provides free access to the Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine.

Login to Data Connection: https://www.spib.org/login

Active eLearning courses are now conveniently housed within Lumber Logic as well, making it easier to find all of the educational material available from SPIB.

Be on the look out for future content additions to the Media Library and Lumber Logic portal, and please contact us if you have recommendations about content you would like to see in Lumber Logic - https://www.spib.org/contact-us.

09/25/2026

What does a grade mark mean to the customer?

In 1925, that question was becoming much easier to answer.

The Department of Commerce published a pamphlet titled “Grade-Marks on Lumber are the Customer’s Guarantee,” highlighting how grade-marking could protect buyers, reduce misunderstandings, and provide greater confidence in the lumber they purchased.

The Southern Pine Association’s grade-marking efforts were gaining widespread support from architects, contractors, dealers, and other leaders throughout the building industry.

More than a century later, the purpose remains familiar: give buyers confidence in the product they are purchasing.

📖 Read the next chapter in our series:

1925 has no doubt gone down in history as one of the most prevailing years in the entirety of the 20th century - it’s just that a lot of people don’t necessarily realize it.

09/21/2026

Last week, SPIB welcomed a record number of participants to Pensacola for the Week of Quality.Together. This week brings together two SPIB training courses (the Dry Kiln Operator Course and the Introduction to QC and Grading Course) making it easier for participants to attend the training that best fits their role.

It was a great week of learning, sharing, and putting knowledge into practice. A huge thank you to all of our subscribers and vendors who participated and helped make the week a success!

Canfor, Weyerhaeuser, West Fraser, Biewer Lumber, Georgia-Pacific

09/18/2026

1924 was a turning point for Southern Pine grade-marking.

After years of development, experimentation, and debate, grade-marking was becoming an established part of the lumber industry.

In 1924, mills demonstrated that grade-marking could be done effectively and economically—even by hand. The Southern Pine Association continued pushing for wider adoption, while American Lumber Standards officially recognized the principle of grade-marking.

A new idea was becoming an industry standard.

Read the next chapter in our history series:

If you had to pick a single word to describe everything that was happening in 1924, “innovation” would certainly come to mind pretty immediately.

09/17/2026

Want to know more? How does XRF help us analyze treated wood?

This week at the American Wood Protection Association Fall Technical Committee Meetings, the Standard Reference Material (SRM) Task Group met and presented a report to the P5 Analytical Methods Committee on the industry’s ongoing work to develop and evaluate reference materials used in treated wood analysis.

AWPA Standard Reference Materials are produced specifically for the treated wood industry, with preservative concentrations established and validated using referee analytical methods. These materials provide known reference values that laboratories and treating facilities can use to develop and verify calibrations for X ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.

By calibrating instruments using the same industry reference materials, we help ensure that an XRF measurement made at one facility is comparable to a measurement made somewhere else. That consistency is what turns a fast analytical technology into a reliable quality control tool across the industry.

So, how does XRF work, and why is it used by the treated wood industry?

X ray fluorescence (XRF) is a rapid, non-destructive analytical technique used to measure elements such as copper in treated wood. When a sample is exposed to X rays, elements within the wood produce characteristic fluorescent X ray signals. The instrument measures those signals to determine how much of a particular element is present.

XRF is used throughout the treated wood industry at treating plants, laboratories, and inspection agencies to quickly analyze important elements in preservative systems. Because XRF is non-destructive, the wood sample remains intact and can then be used for additional testing of co-biocides and other preservative components using different analytical methods.

But reliable XRF analysis also depends on reliable reference materials and confidence that those materials perform consistently across the industry.

That is where round robin studies come in. The same reference materials are analyzed by multiple laboratories, and the results are compared to evaluate consistency among laboratories and instruments. This helps confirm that we are all measuring against the same benchmark.

The SRM Task Group continues to look ahead, identifying additional Standard Reference Materials that may be needed as preservative systems and analytical technologies evolve.

It is another great example of how science, standards, and industry collaboration come together to support treated wood quality.

Stay tuned for more insight into standardization and the science behind treated wood quality control and analysis.

09/15/2026

Want to know more?

First Topic: Expanding NIR Analysis in AWPA Standard A98

We’re especially excited to share a little about this one because it’s a proposal we’ve had the opportunity to develop through our work in the SPIB laboratory.

At SPIB, we’re always looking for ways to evaluate new technologies and analytical approaches that may improve the tools available for treated wood quality control. That work has recently included exploring the capabilities of Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and evaluating where it may have practical applications within our industry.

This fall, we’re bringing forward a proposal for committee consideration that would expand AWPA Standard A98 to include the quantitative determination of tebuconazole in preservative-treated wood using benchtop FT-NIR spectroscopy.

Like every AWPA proposal, it now becomes part of the consensus standards-development process and an opportunity for the committee to review the supporting data, ask questions, discuss the technical approach, and determine the appropriate path forward.

So…what exactly is NIR, and how can light tell us how much preservative is in a piece of wood?

Near-Infrared spectroscopy uses light just beyond the range our eyes can see to gather information about the chemical composition of a material.
When NIR light hits a prepared wood sample, some wavelengths are absorbed and others are reflected. The instrument measures that response and produces a spectrum - almost like a chemical fingerprint of the sample. Using calibration models built from samples with known concentrations, we can identify relationships between those spectral patterns and the preservative component we want to measure.

Once the model has been properly developed and validated, an unknown sample can be scanned and its concentration predicted quickly and with minimal sample preparation.

For treated wood quality control, that opens the door to some pretty exciting analytical possibilities.

Sometimes quality control really is about shining a light on the problem.
And NIR isn’t the only technology using some pretty interesting science to help us understand what’s in treated wood.

Next up, we’ll take a look at XRF and how X-rays are used to measure preservative components in wood.

Different technology. Another very cool quality control tool.

Want to know more? Stay tuned.