<b>Is recent adverse publicity regarding timber frame undermining its revival? Tim Palmer finds a confident sector happy to rebuff scare stories about low fire resistance and poor workmanship</b><br><b>Alarm bells rang earlier this year during a private seminar at the Building Research Establishment which uncovered startling evidence that badly installed plasterboard dry lining and fire protection methods could allow fire to spread uncontrolled through timber frame cavity walls. While acknowledging that workmanship problems may also affect other forms of construction, timber frame came in for the most flak because cavities are lined with combustible materials meaning timbers can smoulder undetected for hours before bursting into flame. </b><br><b>David Scott, Timber and Brick Information Council technical director, had warned only last year: &amp;“It&amp;’s crucial that as we grow we retain quality. High demand could tempt in cowboys who think timber frame is a good idea but don&amp;’t have staff or engineering skills.&amp;”</b><br><b>Cynics recalled the infamous 1983 World in Action programme which revealed poor site practices and listed 30 types of recurrent defects. The timber frame industry took years to recover and was doing well with an estimated 23,000 units produced in 2001 in a market worth &amp;£247 million representing 11.7% of UK housing …