Amendments to British Standard: BS 8500 – Concrete
Advances in essential materials, products and equipment in the built environment sector continues apace as our technology and understanding of environmental impact evolve. Major building materials in construction such as concrete are now expected to achieve an even higher standard of quality, durability, reliability and consider environmental matters such as embodied carbon.
BSI, the business improvement company, has therefore amended BS 8500 – the British Standard published in 2015 for specifying and producing concrete. This British standard is split into two parts and complements existing European standard BS EN 206:2013+A1:2016 1
• Part 1: BS 8500-1:2015+A2:2019 covers specifications and gives guidance to the Specifier. The amendments offer five different approaches to the specification and quality of concrete including the correct way of compiling each specification. The technical rules apply whether the concrete is ready-mixed, site mixed, or used in pre-cast elements.
• Part 2: BS 8500-2:2015+A2:2019 covers the constituent materials in concrete and contains information for the producers of concrete relating to all five specifications highlighted in Part 1. It also specifies requirements relating to delivery, conformity testing, production control and transport of concrete and its constituents 2 .
The amendments to BS 8500 (Parts 1+2) ensure that any changes from new or revised European standards are recognized and that it aligns with the conformity assessment and accreditation policy in the UK.
The amendments were discussed by a panel of experts 3 and comments reviewed regularly before the changes were finalised and published. Next revision is expected in 2023 as research continues.
Ant Burd, Head of Built Environment at BSI, said: “Concrete is a key title within our standards portfolio that supports the Built Environment sector. The principles and guidance in the BS 8500 series and its associated documents will enable professionals engaged in the writing and interpretation of concrete specifications to ensure it is durable in the intended environment, of the precise quality and is utilised correctly.”
The changes made to this standard will be of interest to ready-mixed concrete manufacturers, concrete specifiers and designers of concrete structures.
Further information about these British standards is available at: https://www.bsigroup.com/en-
1. The European standard BS EN 206:2013+A1:2016 covers the technical rules that apply to the production of concrete structures designed in accordance with BS EN 1992-1-1 the European standard on designing concrete structures.
2. Largely due to environmental considerations there is increasing interest in the use of a wider range of low carbon cements in concrete, where the wider range should reduce the pressure on the current sources of low carbon cementitious components. For this reason the amendment is predominantly concerned with increasing the range of cementitious materials covered. These now include: natural pozzolana, natural calcined pozzolana, or high reactivity natural calcined pozzolana as either an addition or a component of Portland‐pozzolana and pozzolanic cements. The range of ternary cements which include up to 20% limestone fines has also been increased.
3. The panel of experts and organizations who advised in the drafting of these amendments to the standard included: Mineral Products Association (MPA), British Precast Concrete Federation (BPCF), Cementitious Slag Makers Association, National House-Building Council (NHBA) and Highways England.
