Fungal cellar (soil-bed) tests are considered to be an important tool for the evaluation of the performance of ground contact wood preservatives. Facilities of this type have been established world wide although caution has been exercised in their introduction into standard testing methods for the approval of wood preservatives. This is the result of concerns over the variability in the biological activity between different facilities, and thereafter the determination of effective preservative retentions. This paper presents results of tests on copper based wood preservatives from four different fungal cellar facilities. The results show consistent trends in preservative performance and the high decay rates demonstrate the value of this type of test in determining the potential of new wood preservatives for long term protection in ground contact.

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