The latest findings from BRE’s programme of long-term field testing of timber out of contact with the ground are presented. This shows that new active ingredients for joinery preservatives are able to provide increases in the service life of timber joinery, while offering improvements in certain health and safety respects. The tests also show that spruce is innately more durable as a joinery timber than Scots pine sapwood, confirm that application of solvent-borne preservatives by means of double-vacuum treatment is more effective than immersion treatment, and indicate that the use of simple water-repellent treatments alone without active ingredients may not provide sufficiently effective protection against decay. 4 pages.