June 2010 - NHBC Home

Standards
Extra
Eurocodes
The Eurocodes are here and conflicting BS Codes have now been withdrawn.
Eurocodes have become the national
standards for structural design
Structural Engineers in Europe are
facing the greatest ever change in
design codes and standards as the ten
Eurocodes for structural design are
implemented. In the UK all 58 Parts
together with their National Annexes
are published and many familiar British
Standards have been withdrawn. Under
an agreement between the European
standardisation bodies conflicting
national structural design standards
had to be withdrawn by 31 March 2010.
The Eurocodes are published by BSI as
BS EN 1990 to BS EN 1999 and they are
now our national standards.
When is the changeover to the new
standards?
There is no fixed date and it will be
a matter of choice for designers and
their clients. However, the adoption
of Eurocodes will initially be driven by
EU directives on public procurement
enacted in the UK as the Public
Contracts Regulations 2006. These
Regulations will require most UK
public sector organisations, utilities
and product manufacturers to adopt
Eurocodes as the preferred basis
for defining technical specifications
and designs. BSI will no longer be
maintaining or updating the old British
Standards, which are expected to fade
from common use over the next few
years. Reference to the Eurocodes will
be updated as the Building Regulations
Approved Documents are revised. In the
case of Approved Documents A and C,
the next periodic review has started and
new versions are expected in 2013.
In a letter to Building Control Bodies
(BCBs), which can be found at http://
www.communities.gov.uk/documents/
planningandbuilding/pdf/1454859.pdf,
the Department for Communities and
Local Government has stated; “When
assessing compliance with the Building
Regulations, BCBs should continue to
consider the appropriate use of relevant
standards on a case by case basis.
BCBs will need to be aware of the risk
of designs inappropriately mixing new
design standards based on the BS ENs
and withdrawn BS design standards.”
To help you meet changing design
requirements, NHBC Building Control can
accept designs to either the old British
or new European codes to support
proposals to satisfy Building Control
and NHBC Buildmark submissions, but
not a combination of both. Whether
using the old or new codes, designers
should satisfy themselves, and NHBC
Building Control, that the designs are
still relevant to the particular design
requirements of each project.
For further information visit
www.nhbc.co.uk/bc
ACTION
European codes and standards
on site
In recent years European product
standards have replaced many familiar
BS standards. The new standards
are more performance based, which
provides designers with greater choice
and scope for innovation. Similarly, the
new design standards also offer greater
scope for innovation. This means that
project specification drawings and
details will often need to state the
required performance characteristics
(e.g. strength, density, fire resistance,
thermal conductivity, water absorption)
and on site it will become more
important to check that the products
used are the correct ones with the
required performance characteristics.
Where products bear the CE marking,
the required performance values, levels
or classes will be available on a label,
on the packaging or in accompanying
documentation.
With the introduction of the Eurocodes as the new National Standards
and the withdrawal of the old British Standards, designers will need to
satisfy themselves and NHBC Building Control that the appropriate use
of relevant standards has been adopted. This will need to be considered
on a project by project basis.
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