Construction materials distributor Wolseley is celebrating the achievement of an environmental milestone by one of its major businesses.

Build Center in Bolton is the 200^th branch to be awarded Chain of Custody certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), which guarantees the supply of legal and sustainable timber.

Build Center offers more than 4,000 certified timber products, including sawn and machined timber, joinery and panels. Customers can therefore buy timber straight from the shelf, confident in the knowledge that it is sourced from certified, well-managed forests, and has not been mixed with products from uncertified forests at any point in the supply chain.

Jermain Cheetham, Wolseley’s national Chain of Custody manager, said: “This latest milestone highlights our commitment to deliver environmentally sound building solutions and ensure that our customers can meet the requirements of schemes such as the government’s ‘Code For Sustainable Homes’. Using certified timber also contributes to the ultimate goal of eliminating the trade in illegal timber.

“As well as increasing the number of certified branches, we continue to grow the range of sustainable timber products that we offer, with recent additions including the expanded Oliver Häffner kitchen range.”

The remaining 40 Build Center branches are expected to achieve Chain of Custody certification by July 2008.