Centers/ Laboratories

Laboratory for the testing of chipboards

The Laboratory for the testing of chipboards is located at the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade and accredited for the testing of physical, mechanical and chemical properties of chipboards, fiberboards and oriented strand boards (OSB). The head of the laboratory is prof. Dr. Milanka Điporović-Momčilović.

The Laboratory for chipboards, fiberboards  and wood-plastic masses was established at the Chair of chemical and mechanical wood processing  following the development trends in the industry and market of wood-based panels in Yugoslavia. It became a laboratory authorized by the Federal Standardization Bureau in 1980. Under the leadership of prof. Dr. Jovan Miljković this laboratory was ready for the period of the 80s and the escalation of the problem of formaldehyde emissions from wood-based panels. The Laboratory was equipped with apparatuses for the testing of formaldehyde content by the perforator method, and it adopted the method of testing of formaldehyde emissions by the WKI method. In addition, the Laboratory made apparatuses for domestic factories of chipboards and plywood, completed them with the necessary accessories, reactive substances and provided instruction to the factory trained personnel on how to conduct testing and monitoring of formaldehyde emissions from their products. Until the end of the 90s this laboratory was one of the only two centers in Yugoslavia which provided services of examination of the content of formaldehyde and its emission from wood-based panels.

After 2000, the Laboratory changed its name to the Laboratory for the testing of chipboards, which received its first decision on accreditation by the Accreditation Body of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. In the period from 1995 to 2010, the laboratory was supplied with computer equipment and  it renewed and modernized its inventory of laboratory measuring devices. During 2014 and 2015 the Laboratory further improved its section for the testing of formaldehyde content by the perforator method, and special laboratory unit was formed for making experimental wood-based panels.

The employees in the management of the Laboratory are members of the Commission for wood-based panels of the Standardization Institute of the Republic of Serbia, where their professional work was involved in the harmonization of national and international ISO standards. In recent years they have been actively working on the translation and taking over of the European (EN) standards in this area.