Standards

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 5930:2015 Code of Practice for Ground Investigations

BS 5930:2015 "Code of practice for ground investigations” came into effect on 31 July 2015. This British Standard supersedes BS 5930:1999+A2:2010, which is withdrawn.

The first Standard in this field (CP2001:1957) covered simple guidance on operational ground investigation. This was superseded in 1981 by a full edition of the Standard and again in 1999. The full standards covered ground investigation in much greater detail. The 1999 edition was amended twice to incorporate changes brought about by the introduction of BS EN 1997-1 and BS EN 1997-2 and their related standards.

BS 5930:2015 is a further full revision of the standard, and introduces some principal changes:

Compliance with BS EN 1997-1 and BS EN 1997-2 and related test standards
New information on geophysical surveying and ground testing and updated guidance on desk studies, field reconnaissance, ground investigations on contaminated ground and ground affected by voids
The requirements of data capture in the field and the inclusion of this in reporting as well as other amendments throughout the code.

Although at first glance it might appear that not much has altered but the revised standard updates best and current practice, accommodates EN ISO standards and has been reorganised to reduce repetition. The structure has been considerably revised. Several of these sections have been raised from clause to section level to better reflect their importance to the investigation process

Note also the change of title from ‘site’ to ‘ground’ investigations,

The revision process started in late 2011 and the final draft for public comment was issued in 2014 when over 1000 comments were made - the most ever seen by BSI. The comments were reviewed and incorporated ready for publication in July 2015.

The BDA acknowledges the effort put into this by the review panel (see below) and would especially like to thank Dick Gosling who represented the BDA.

David Norbury representing the Geological Society of London
David Entwisle representing AGS
Dick Gosling representing British Drilling Association
John Powell present as Chair of B/526/3
Andrew Ridley co-opted to writ on instrumentation
Mike Smith present to guide us on integrated investigations
Graham Taylor representing British Geotechnical Association

We would also thank George Tuckwell (geophysics), Tom Phillips (safety) and Mary Groom (editing) for noteworthy contributions

BS EN 16228 Drilling and Foundation Equipment - Safety (2014)

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

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.

Eurocode Geotechnical Design Standards

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