EN
The aim of this paper was to perform a comparative analysis of the quality and the value of beech, oak, fir and spruce wood classified according to the Polish and the EU standards. The research was carried out in Lesko and Baligród forest districts (south−eastern Poland). The measurements of the investigated raw wood were taken at the upper landings. With regard to fir, spruce and beech 50 specimens per species were measured, while in the case of oak only 25 pieces were examined. Each specimen was classified in respect of its quality and size according to the Polish standards (PN) and the European Union (PN−EN) standards. Then, the results of both classifications were compared in terms of the share of volumes of particular wood quality classes, the impact of wood defects on the raw wood classification results, and the value of wood determined by the means of both standards. With regard to the beech wood, the share of the poorest class D upon applying PN−EN was smaller than that for PN norms. This decrease was in favour of other classes, due to which the value of the entire beech wood increased by ca. 16%, when classified with the use of the EU standards. The oak wood revealed a slight increase in the share of wood volume in the class C and a decrease in the class D of PN−EN when compared with the Polish norms. The value of the oak wood classified with the use of the EU standards was merely by 2.3% higher than that of the Polish norms. With regard to the softwood (fir and spruce), a decrease in the share of wood of the class C in PN−EN was recorded, which was in favour of the classes B and D. The value of raw wood classified by means of the EU standards was lower for both of the coniferous species. The decrease for fir accounted for 13.3%, while for spruce it was only 1.5%. For the evaluation of the softwood, Polish classification was more profitable, whereas for hardwood the EU standards were more favourable.