The updated BS EN 17892 (1-12) are now published. The use of the new standards shall occur within 6 months of publication of the standard. Their publication supersedes some parts of BS1377 (although some parts of the industry still request superseded test standards). A decision will need to be taken about BS1377 and parts of it will no longer be current standards.
Future of BS1377
There are various ways forward. The most obvious is simply to remove the test methods covered by BS EN 17892 and renumber the following clauses.
Depending on the resulting final number of pages of technical text, if all the suggested Standards in the tables that follow were adopted, BS1377 might be amenable to restructuring, perhaps even as far as a new structure of fewer than 9 parts, for example:
Part 1 – general requirements and sample preparation (published 2016).
Part 2 – geotechnical laboratory test methods,
Part 3 – geotechnical test methods (published 2018).
Part 4 – field measurements.
The suggested “new” BS1377-2 would contain everything that remains from the exisiting Parts 2, 5, 6.
The most extreme option might be the complete withdraw of BS1377, with UK laboratories looking to e.g. ASTM methods to fill any resulting gaps. This might not be acceptable to some. All of the above pre-supposes that there are no tests that need adding to BS1377. The UK geotechnical industry should be consulted widely to establish if there are any such tests.
i2 Analytical are UKAS accredited for EN 17892 part 1, 2 and 3 and are working towards gaining accreditation for the remaining tests, regular updates of our progress will be issued.
Click here for information on the transition of BS1377 to BSEN norms.
For more information please contact:-
Terry Stafford
Geotechnical Quality Manager
t.stafford@i2analytical.com
07741 312010
01923 225404
7 Woodshots Meadow, Croxley Park, Watford. WD18 8YS
