This document recommends the industrial standards to be applied to the treatment of timber to attain a fire-retardant finish and lists the most commonly used and available timber species. Advice from the Wood Protection Association (WPA) has been used in the preparation of this defence standard.

The standard also describes the minimum retention level for timber treatment (where appropriate) by timber type. This is in order to meet the, often more stringent defence standards, where the retained material content required may be in excess of the normal industrial levels.

This document includes all timber types and products currently available, normally used, or expected to be used, in RN ships. Materials covered by this standard now include plywood and Oriented Strand Board (OSB), solid timbers, Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and other types of fibre board. OSB, MDF and other fibre boards shall also be assessed for their shock performance prior to use.