Operating since 1903, the Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau (PLIB), is a private, non-profit timber quality control inspection bureau. It is perhaps best known for its grading rules, Export “R” List Grading and Dressing Rules for West Coast Softwood Lumber, one of the oldest and most widely used references in international softwood trading. 

PLIB provides grading and inspection services in accordance with contract specifications between buyers and sellers to over 40 softwood timber manufacturers and remanufacturers in western Oregon, Washington, and in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. 

PLIB is approved by both the ALSC and the Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board to provide mill supervisory services under the NGR, RIS, WCLIB, WWPA and NLGA rules as well as to supervise glued and machine-graded timber. 

Redwood grading rules, the Standard Specifications for Grades of California Redwood Lumber, are developed and published by the Redwood Inspection Service (RIS). This inspection agency is ALSC-approved to provide mill supervisory services under the NGR, its own, and the WCLIB and WWPA grading rules and to supervise machine-graded timber. 

RIS is the grading and inspection services division of the California Redwood Association (CRA) which, at the age of 80, is one of the oldest, private non-profit trade associations in the forest products industry. CRA’s primary responsibility is to maintain the integrity and high quality of RIS redwood grades. In addition, CRA promotes the use of redwood timber products and provides technical information and support services to redwood manufacturers, architectural specifiers and builders. 

The birth of the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (WCLIB) can be traced to 1911 when four northwest associations joined together to form the West Coast Lumberman’s Association. Forty years later, the grading services division was established as an independent subsidiary of the WCLA, and in 1968, the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau was incorporated as an independent organization. The WCLIB currently provides services to more than 110 saw mills and remanufacturers located primarily throughout the northwestern U.S. In addition to its primary objective to develop and maintain uniform timber grading standards through publication of the Standard Grading Rules for West Coast Lumber, WCLIB provides grading supervision services, reinspection and transient inspection services, grader training services, and general and technical product support services. WCLIB is approved under ALSC and the Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board to provide mill supervisory services under the NGR, its own, and RIS, NLGA and WWPA rules as well as to supervise glued and machine-graded timber.

With one of its predecessor organizations dating back to 1906, Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) is among the oldest and largest private, non-profit timber trade associations in the world, representing more than 130 sawmills in the 12 contiguous western states and Alaska. In addition to its most important function in quality control as a certified rules-writing, grading and inspection agency, WWPA provides economic analysis, technical support to member manufacturers, product support services and information to engineers, architects and builders, and business information services for the industry. 

WWPA is approved under ALSC and the Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board to provide mill supervisory services under the NGR, its own, and RIS, NLGA and WCLIB rules as well as to supervise glued and machine-graded timber.