Inside this article
The Client
Lockwood Homes is a family owned, iconic Kiwi brand based in Rotorua. For 76 years, the company has built solid timber homes for New Zealanders, using radiata pine that's sourced locally and sustainably. Lockwood is now run by the third generation of the same family, and the plant had operated compliantly for the whole of that history, until recent changes to fire protection regulation caught the business, and many others like it, off guard.
The Challenge
Lockwood's manufacturing process depends on LOSP (light organic solvent preservative), a white spirits based wood preservative used to treat timber. LOSP is also a flammable liquid, and under WorkSafe's updated fire protection requirements, the storage setup that had served Lockwood for decades was suddenly no longer compliant.
Dave Hutchings, Lockwood's manufacturing manager at the time, explains that Lockwood wasn't alone. Regulation changes meant plants across the country were becoming non-compliant almost overnight, and Lockwood needed a solution that would bring the site back into line without disrupting production.
Weighing Up the Options
The team looked at several ways to solve the problem. One option was a foam sprinkler system, but the cost was high, and it came with an environmental risk that ruled it out: if the foam deluge system ever activated, there was a chance of runoff reaching a nearby stream that flows into Lake Rotorua.
A fire consultant pointed Lockwood toward fire-rated tanks instead, and specifically to Fuelchief's SuperVault. From there, Dave and the team worked through a lengthy approval process with Fire and Emergency New Zealand, WorkSafe, and the regional council to confirm that fire rated tanks would meet the compliance requirement.
Lockwood also wanted to keep the tanks inside the existing shed, in the same location as the old ones, rather than moving to self-bunding tanks outside. The building already had a bund capable of holding 200% of the hazardous chemical volume, so after further discussion with the regulators, that option was approved too.
The Solution
Fuelchief installed a 40,000 litre and a 60,000 litre SuperVault tank inside Lockwood's existing shed, sized to fit the site's LOSP storage needs and its existing bund. Both tanks carry a four hour fire rating, satisfying the compliance requirement without the cost or environmental risk of a foam suppression system.
Dave describes the installation itself as straightforward, crediting the coordination between Fuelchief's Guthrie, the crane teams, and transport for keeping everything on schedule. As Dave puts it, the process "went like clockwork, as long as we communicated."
The Result
Beyond solving the compliance issue, the new tanks gave Lockwood a practical operational buffer. The site now holds roughly 10,000 litres of extra capacity, meaning a late fuel delivery no longer risks stopping the plant. Where a delayed truck once meant a production halt, Lockwood now has around three days of backup supply to work with.
"Now they've actually got three days of backup without having to run out of fluid, so it works really well." - Dave Hutchings, then Manufacturing Manager, Lockwood Homes
Why It Matters
For a business built on 76 years of craftsmanship, staying compliant couldn't come at the cost of production or the environment. By working closely with regulators and choosing fire rated storage over a higher-risk, higher-cost alternative, Lockwood brought its plant back into compliance and picked up extra operational resilience in the process.
