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By Standards (with a capital "S") we refer to International (ISO), European (EN) and British Standards (BS). It must be understood that Standards are designed for voluntary use and do not impose any regulations. However, laws and regulations may refer to certain Standards and make compliance with them compulsory. Certainly, non-compliance with Standards is a major issue when legal procedures take place, and observance and compliance with Standards is essential.
There are many Standards around - in UK there are more than 27,000 BS Standards. Many are derived from (and equal to) EN Standards. If an EN Standard is published then it has to become a BS Standard within generally 6 months.
BS (EN, ISO) Standards have to be purchased from British Standards shop (BSI) - The BDA cannot provide them owing to copyright.
BS EN 16228 Drilling and foundation equipment -Safety, has now been published and all 7 parts are available from the BSi shop using the following links:
EN 791 the 1995 Standard for Drill rig safety has been revised after a review lasting over 3 years.
The European Committee responsible for the revision reached a milestone at its meeting in Paris at the start of September 2010 in that it had reached a deadline for submission of a 1st draft to CEN (Europe's Standards Body).
CEN TC 151 WG3 Committee working on EN 791 revision
CEN has allocated a new number for this standard series which combines revision of EN 791 and EN 996 (Piling equipment. Safety requirements)
BS EN 791 Drilling rigs and BS EN 996 Piling rigs have now been withdrawn.
Former National Secretary, Brian Stringer, gave a fabulous and illuminating presentation on the background and main elements of this new standard at one of our recent seminars. His presentation can be viewed here.
From 24 February 2011 the process was one of a public enquiry stage in which each European country had a period to examine the draft, comment on it and give its vote. The enquiry stage ended in July 2011 when the European Committee reconvened to examine the comments and work on the final draft . There then followed a 6-month period for final voting and the new Standard was published on 31st August 2014.
BDA sits on this European committee and will continue to inform and involve BDA members as to what help they can provide.
From April 2010, Eurocode 7 for geotechnical design became fully active across Europe. Anyone specifying or carrying out site investigation now needs to follow the standards which are published by BSI. The BDA has been publishing details of Eurocode in its Newsletters for some time.
Click here for the BDA Newsletter extracts