Why Marley's roof battens are the safest choice for your next project

Roof battens play a critical role in roof safety. The JB Red battens from Marley are machine-graded and manufactured by a company you can trust and are the best choice for creating a secure foundation for a roofing system. 

Roof battens: safety first

Roof battens are the first step in creating a high-quality roofing system. Whether the roof is covered in clay tiles, concrete tiles, slates or timber shingles or shakes, high-quality battens will help ensure they are secured and well supported while also protecting the roof from damage caused by wind loading on the underlay.

With the increase in extreme weather conditions, wind resistance is becoming increasingly important in roof construction. BS 5534:2014 + A2:2018 is the code of practice for installing slates and tiles to new-build pitched roofs and vertical cladding. It also covers re-roofing projects and extensions. One of its aims is to ensure that roofs are constructed to withstand heavy winds and other adverse weather conditions and to increase roofs' overall safety and longevity.

Roof battens are key to ensuring adequate wind resistance for roofing systems. They form the basis of a dry-fix system, keeping roof tiles and other roofing elements fixed securely to the roof, even in inclement weather.

In addition, battens are often used to provide secure footholds for roofers, so choosing high-quality products will help to reduce safety risks onsite.

Who might be thinking about safe roof battens?

Because roof battens play such an important part in the safety and resilience of a roof, it’s essential for everyone involved to choose roof battens that are strong and reliable.

• Merchants – Selling a trustworthy product that is known for its quality will give your customers peace of mind and help build your reputation as a business that provides quality supplies.
• Architects – Specifying safe roof battens will help ensure that your designs comply with British Standards and Building Regulations, as well as any client requirements. Plus, it helps to ensure that the finished structure has a long lifespan with minimal risk for potential problems.
• Installers – Since roofers often use battens as footholds while working, the quality and safety of the roof battens are of utmost importance. Marley’s factory-graded battens will reduce risk on-site while also helping to ensure that the finished roof meets or exceeds all expectations.
• Social housing providers and homeowners – Having a roof constructed with the safest choice of products will contribute to the longevity of a roof, thus reducing maintenance requirements and other costs. It will also reassure occupants that the roof will help keep their homes warm and dry, even in severe weather conditions.

 What to look for in a safe roofing batten

BS 5534 sets out the requirements for roof battens. The first step in selecting roof battens is to ensure they have been stamped as BS 5534 compliant. To achieve compliance, battens must:

• Have minimal defects – Because timber battens are made from natural materials, characteristics such as knots and missing corners can sometimes exist. These don't always prevent a batten from meeting the requirements of BS 5534, but they may. For example, some knots are allowed, depending on how big they are and where they are located.
• Be straight – BS 5534 sets a tolerance on distortion, stating that bow, spring or twist should be no more than 5mm over a length of 1.2m, and be no less than 25mm thickness with a relative moisture content of 20%.

Other things to consider are the origin and species of the timber, the size of the batten and the treatments applied.

While a BS 5534 conformity stamp should indicate quality, there have been cases where inferior products have been falsely marked. To avoid sourcing fraudulent products which do not conform to BS 5534, check the documentation that must be supplied with the battens. Opting for products from a reliable manufacturer, such as Marley, can also help to ensure that the products you choose are safe and meet all relevant standards.

JB Red battens: a product you can depend on

With their distinctive red colouring, Marley’s JB Red roofing battens have a longstanding reputation for safety and reliability, making them the ideal choice for any roofing project. We are committed to providing high-quality and we control every aspect of our sourcing, manufacturing, testing and distribution to ensure that our battens meet standards and our clients’ expectations.

• Machine-graded to BS 5534
• UKAS third-party assessed by the BBA
• Cut from kiln-dried sideboards, meaning they are less likely to distort
• PEFC certified
• Preservative treated to BS 8417: 2011 Usage Class 2

To find out more about JB Red roofing battens, please visit the product page, or contact a member of our team for support.