BSI, the business standards company, has revised BS EN 206 Concrete – Specification, performance, production and conformity. The European Standard applies to concrete for structures cast in situ, precast structures, and structural precast products for buildings and civil engineering structures.

The standard covers all types of concrete and nearly all types of precast concrete*. BS 206 also covers concrete for pavements where there are additional complementary requirements cited in the European Standard for Concrete pavements.

The revision specifically addresses that concrete may be designed for a working life of up to and over 100 years. This ensures that when its sustainability credentials are compared to other building materials the comparison may be carried out on an equitable basis.

BS EN 206 covers constituents of concrete; properties of fresh and hardened concrete and their verification; limitations for concrete composition; specification of concrete; delivery of fresh concrete; production control procedures; and conformity criteria and evaluation of conformity.

The standard will be of use to all members of a construction project who provide or require information on ready mix concrete, including construction contractors, specialists, manufacturers, specifiers and structural engineers.

BS EN 206 was developed using a collaborative consensus-based process with input from experts within the construction product sector such as the British Ready Mix Concrete Association, as well as structural engineers, construction product manufacturers, specifiers and trade association representatives.

Anthony Burd, Head of Built Environment at BSI, said: “The characteristics of concrete that may be needed depends on its end use application. These can range from such things as strength, maximum aggregate size or consistency to visual concretes where aggregate structure is on display. With such an array of variations possible it is useful to have guidelines for the specifier and the producer to refer to. BS EN 206 can help with this, and now with the added clarity this amendment brings, this process is much easier.

The amendment to BS 206 was a result of BSI’s participation in the CEN technical committee CEN/TC 104. BS EN 206 does not cover health and safety requirements for the protection of workers during production and delivery of concrete.