CHH PortalSuite
With CHH PortalSuite™ design tools, designing portal frame structures with LVL is as simple and straightforward as designing with steel. To make the process even easier, CHH Woodproducts NZ can provide a free, no-obligation preliminary design and costing service for your large portal frame project. Alternatively, we are happy to convert your pre-building consent steel portal designs to use LVL and provide costings for comparison. Our technical team will also provide full support and guidance relating to engineering design, detailing, fabrication and erection.
The Structural Reliability of Steel with all the Natural Advantages of Wood

The future of Portal Frame construction is LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) which has now been made easier with CHH PortalSuite™ design tools,free preliminary design service and comprehensive technical support.
Features & Benefits
CHH PortalSuite:
- Large portal frame structures can cost significantly less than equivalent buildings constructed with steel.
- Wood is one of the world’s most environmentally responsible building products and has a substantial impact on carbon emissions when compared to other energy-intensive building products.
- LVL has a superior strength to weight ratio compared to large hot rolled section steel and can be used in a wide range of structural applications, including large span portal frames, commercial and multi-storey buildings.
- Prefabricated laminated veneer lumber structures arrive on site ready for immediate erection - saving time, errors and ensuring accuracy.
- Free, no obligation Preliminary Design Service for large portal frame projects
- Comprehensive technical support by our technical team will also provide backup and guidance relating to engineering design, detailing, fabrication and erection. Contact us for more information.
Brochures
Futurebuild LVL Specific Design Guide
Properties and structural characteristics for the Futurebuild LVL range for use by specifiers and engineers for specific design LVL projects
Save Money, Help save the Planet
Two compelling reasons to use laminated veneer lumber in your next portal frame building
Information Bulletins
LVL Portal Frame vs Steel Portal Frame
Design and detailing was carried out for two structures made from different materials (one made from Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), the other made from steel) for a typical 1800 m2 warehouse type structure in Auckland for comparison of suitability of structure in consideration of price and life cycle assessment (LCA).
Software & Tools
CHH 30m Structural Drawings
Structural Drawings for 30m clear span. All details designed and specified within computations. These plans are not for construction.
CHH Engineering Bulletin 1
Strength Limit States Design Capacity Tables for CHH LVL sections
CHH Engineering Bulletin 2
Rigid moment connection Design Tables
CHH LVL Portal Frame Design Example
30 metre Span LVL Portal Frame Design at Industrial Park, Auckland, New Zealand
LVL Portal Frame Design Guidelines
These design guidelines should be used in conjunction with CHH Woodproducts NZ Engineering Bulletins and sound engineering practice in the development of LVL based Portal Frames
LVL Portal Frame Structures in New Zealand
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) portal frame structures have proven to be both practical and cost effective in many cases in Australasia but still struggle to gain a foot hold in the commercial and industrial market due to the dominance of more commonly available steel framed solutions.
Timber Engineering Design made more accessible
Participation in timber engineered design presents many consulting engineers with dilemma. Whilst there is ample evidence that new engineered timber products can be used to advantage compared with other materials, market demand for timber engineering design is low and it difficult to justify time & effort involved to develop the design skills
MOTAT 360° Panorama
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Timber Portal Frame Prefabricators
Below is a list of companies that have had experience in the fabrication of LVL kit set buildings. As well as having fabrication experience the prefabricators have access to material cut to 100 mm increments and a monthly scheduled production period to enable supply of building systems on time and within budget. Each can be contacted for information on pricing and scheduling of individual projects.
Prefabricators in New Zealand
Ahead Buildings
Ahead Buildings is New Zealand’s leading school design and construction specialist, with over 13 years building classrooms, halls and community gymnasiums. By combining innovative design solutions with sustainable timber materials we have constructed inspiring learning environments that meet tight timetables and budgetary constraints. We believe that buildings must look great on the outside but what’s more important is that they’re great places to live and learn inside.
Carters Building Supplies
Carters (part of the Carter Holt Harvey Building Supplies Group) are an iconic New Zealand company that originated 150 years ago with the Holt family in Napier. Built on solid foundations the business has grown to one of the largest building merchants in New Zealand with a long and proud history. Today it has a comprehensive manufacturing service that delivers high quality pre-cut, pre-nailed frames and trusses, and LVL portal frames and systems for the residential, rural and commercial markets nationwide. It has 15 manufacturing plants around New Zealand, where they can work with you to provide you with a solution that meets your demands.
At Carters everything we do is aimed at making the building easier for you Carters – Your Building Partner.
Customkit Buildings
Customkit Buildings Ltd has a proud history of timber portal construction. The Company began designing timber kitset buildings in 1994 and over the years has seen the demand for larger spans and generally bigger buildings increase. We have comfortably manufactured clear span portals up to 27metres for a church in Northland, 21metres for a large dairy unit in Southland, 20metres for school halls. The product provides capability for much larger spans and the Company sees it as having a strong future in the construction industry.
McIntosh Timber Laminates
McIntosh Timber Laminates are committed to providing prefabricated timber solutions. They have extensive experience in fabricating and delivering kit set LVL packages for portal frames, box beams and other composite LVL systems throughout New Zealand and beyond. With 50 years experience in gluing large section timber components they offer a reliable quality service.
Stanley Group
Stanley Group have a reputation for taking on the tough construction contracts – high value contracts with critical hygiene challenges, those in remote locations or sensitive alpine environments, corporate fitouts with challenging timeframes, contracts with client-occupied spaces or in safety-sensitive trading environments. Typically, these contracts require meticulous planning and exceptional site management. The Stanley companies use innovative construction techniques – such as modular construction – to overcome specific challenges in specific markets and locations.
Prefabricators in Australia
Timberbuilt Pty Ltd
Timberbuilt is a family owned professionally based timber engineering company specialising in the structural design and use of laminated veneer lumber (LVL).
The following links have been provided for Engineers to have access to information on the most current technology available. The content of these sites has not been verified or provided by CHH Woodproducts NZ and as such CHH Woodproducts NZ can take no responsibility for any design information provided or recommended by these sites, but instead offer it for your information.
New Zealand and Australia
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Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia
CHH Woodproducts is a financial member of the EWPAA. Some information of particular interest are the Structural Plywood & LVL Design Manual, and the Commercial and Industrial flooring Design Manual. - National Timber Development Program
- Timber Development Association
- Timber Queensland
- Forest and Wood Products Australia
- Timber Design Society
- NZ Wood
International
PORTALSUITE™ Engineering Tools
PORTALSUITE™ is an integrated system of design tools and targeted products to aid in the development of LVL Portal Frame systems. The following information and tools are available for download. Where applicable click on the associated icon to download.
- LVL portal frame design guidelines. These general guidlines are provided to be used in conjunction with CHH Woodproducts NZ Engineering Bulletins and with sound engineering practice for design and specification of LVL portal frames.
- Fully worked design example. A 30m clear span portal frame is provided as an aid to engineers in the development of design solutions for LVL and I-beam Portal Frame systems. This design example provides full references to standards including NZS 3603 and AS/NZS 1170 where applicable.
- Structural Drawings for the design example. All details designed and specified within computations. These plans are not for construction
- Design Tools to aid in the design and specification of LVL building systems.
Futurebuild LVL Specific Design Guide April 2012. Properties and structural characteristics of the Futurebuild LVL range for specifc design
Engineering Bulletin 1. Strength Limit States Design Capacity Tables for CHH Woodproducts LVL products
Engineering Bulletin 2. Ridged Moment Resisting Connections for Portal Frame Knee and Ridge Connections
- LVL Portal Frame Structures in New Zealand. This is a paper written by Cameron Rodger and Warwick Banks of CHH Woodproducts NZ and discusses the design and development of an LVL based solution for the Fortress Dry Mill. The building has clear internal spans of 33 m and portal frames at 10m bays.
- Timber Engineering Design Made More Accessible. This is a paper written by Bruce Hutchings of Timberbuilt and Hank Bier of CHH Woodproducts NZ and presented to the Australasian Structural Engineering Conference in Auckland, 1999. Please note that this paper is provided for general information only. Changes to standards since it was written mean that some of the capacities provided may be outdated and should not be used for specification.
- New LVL products for large span applications. CHH Woodproducts NZ have developed new products including 90mm thick hySPAN and Cross Banded LVL to allow designers the ability of built up sections within large span buildings. These products are project specific and have minimum order volumes. To obtain further detail or learn more about these products contact CHH Woodproducts NZ on 0800 808 131.
Please note that other technical information and span tables for residential applications and commercial floor design can be found under Library.