Construction mesh supplier Steel & Tube has initiated external mesh testing, alongside in-house testing, in the wake of concerns raised last month over its certification system.
Sheets of the company's Hurricane branded seismic strength mesh had for the past four years incorrectly carried the logo of an accredited testing laboratory, while actual testing had been done in-house by Steel & Tube staff.
Steel & Tube shares took an 8% hit at the time, but yesterday advanced 0.9% to $2.30.
Steel & Tube chief executive Dave Taylor said at the time, use of the Holmes Solutions logo was an ‘‘oversight'' and a ‘‘mistake'', but yesterday reiterated the company stood by the mesh quality.
The product is sold through 56 outlets around the country.
‘‘The company maintains confidence in its seismic mesh, and to reassure customers, mesh supplied by Steel & Tube will now be subject to dual testing and must pass both the in-house and an external laboratory testing,'' he said in a statement.
Steel & Tube would be selling only its seismic mesh range which had been passed as compliant by the unnamed external testing agent, which could mean some short-term disruption to supply, Mr Taylor said.
Despite laboratories testing against the same standard, Steel & Tube was ‘‘surprised by the variability'' in results, including those from the Commerce Commission, and had encountered ‘‘significant ambiguity around the interpretation of the testing standards''.
Because of the ambiguity and interpretation, Mr Taylor suggested it was time to review the standards regime, by establishing an industry and government working group.
