New Hampshire has changed how state-funded buildings specify framing lumber, and a second statute taking effect this fall changes how SPFs is treated across the entire state building code. Together, the two provisions give Northeast-grown spruce-pine-fir more standing on New Hampshire drawings than it has had before.
The state-funded preference
Senate Bill 529 was signed on June 19 as Chapter 193 of 2026 and took effect August 18. It adds two paragraphs to RSA 155-A:13, the section of the building code that governs state-funded buildings.
The first sets the preference: “The material specification of any state-funded building in New Hampshire shall give preference to lumber harvested in the United States, unless design criteria necessitates utilizing imported sourcing.”
The second addresses framing directly. When construction drawings or specifications call for softwood framing lumber harvested in the United States, they must reference U.S.-sourced spruce-pine-fir, written in the statute as SPFs.
The bill had six Republican sponsors, including Representatives Arnold Davis and Mike Ouellet of Coös County. It cleared both chambers on voice votes with no recorded opposition.
The broader change: RSA 155-A:15
A separate law adds a new section to the same chapter. It goes further than SB 529 and applies to the whole state building code, not only to state-funded work. Under RSA 155-A:15:
- SPFs harvested and milled in New Hampshire, graded by a state-permitted grader or an ALSC-accredited agency, must be accepted wherever SPF is specified.
- Structural design and inspection must use the published SPFs design values for the grade and size supplied.
- Where connector, hanger, fastener, truss plate, or other product listings differentiate loads by species group, the SPFs values govern when SPFs is installed.
- Municipalities must accept either a native lumber certificate or an ALSC grade stamp as proof of grade.
- Licensed architects and structural engineers keep the right to specify stronger materials, but they are also required to consider and provide construction alternatives using SPFs.
That last provision matters most for specifiers. SPFs has moved from being an acceptable substitute to being an option designers are obligated to evaluate.
What it means for engineers and specifiers
SPF and SPFs are separate species groups with separate published design values. A member sized on SPF values does not automatically work at SPFs values, and the statute is explicit that the SPFs values govern when SPFs goes in. The same applies to hardware. A hanger or truss plate rated for one species group should be checked against the other before installation.
For design teams working in New Hampshire, the practical step is to confirm that framing members and connectors hold up at SPFs values early, so that a substitution at the yard does not become a redesign in the field.
What it means for mills and yards
The acceptance provision is limited to lumber both harvested and milled in New Hampshire. Grade documentation and traceability become part of the sale. The native lumber certificate path also gives smaller in-state mills a route into code-compliant work alongside ALSC-stamped product.
What the law leaves open
SB 529 does not define “preference.” It sets no price threshold and no enforcement mechanism, and the exception for design criteria that require imported sourcing is broad. The state’s Division of Public Works Design and Construction could not estimate the fiscal impact. Its fiscal note observed that framing prices were falling on weak demand, and it warned that a rise in demand, combined with tariffs on Canadian lumber, could strain domestic supply and push prices up.
How the preference works in practice will depend on how project teams and the state’s design and construction division apply it.
Regional context
New Hampshire is not the only state trying this approach. Washington’s House Bill 1726 would rank state-funded projects’ lumber sourcing by in-state mills first, but it has sat in committee since early 2025. Across the country, domestic-procurement bills filed this year have focused mostly on steel and iron. That makes New Hampshire’s lumber-specific statute unusual, and it makes the SPFs acceptance provision, as far as we can find, the first of its kind written directly into a state building code.
NELMA is the grading authority for the SPFs species grouping, which includes eastern spruce, balsam fir, red pine, and other softwoods grown in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. For species information, grade details, and technical guidance on SPFs, see About Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPFs).
