CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS
BS 8539:2012 Code of practice for the selection and installation of post-installed anchors in concrete and masonry
In October this year a new British Standard will be published, setting out the roles and responsibilities for everyone involved in the use of anchors. The Construction Fixings Association regards this as potentially the most significant step forward in the use of construction fixings in the UK since the advent of European Technical Approvals. Mark Salmon, who leads the BSI drafting panel on behalf of the CFA, explains why he believes the Code is necessary and what it means to distributors.
Why do we need a code of practice for fixings? For years the CFA has monitored so called “accidents” in
which fixings have failed. On
www.fixingscfa.co.uk there are a series of articles under the heading “Fixing failures”. These discuss a fatal collapse during construction; the death of a car passenger six years after the anchors that failed had been installed; and the collapse of a suspended ceiling in a school, also some time after installation, in which thankfully no one was hurt because the room was empty at the time. These examples were chosen to highlight that everyone in the fixings chain can be responsible to some degree or another for such failures. There have been other examples and the number of failures is almost certainly well under reported. It was the investigation into one of these
accidents, in Dublin, that prompted the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland to publish its own ‘Code of Practice for the Design and Installation of Anchors’. That document formed the starting point for the drafting of BS 8539:2012.
The main causes of fixing failures The investigation of fixing failures reveals
many influencing factors but it is often the coming together of several issues that causes the actual failure. In the writer’s experience, the top three causes are: the wrong fixing being selected in the first place, the specified fixing being changed without proper care, and poor installation. There are of course others. So how might a fixings distributor contribute
to any of these causes? Well, if you are asked for a particular fixing that you don’t stock and offer an alternative without pointing out that the full selection procedure needs to be repeated with the alternative fixing, you might unwittingly cause the wrong fixing to be used. If you sell anchors without the correct setting equipment this may lead to them being incorrectly set and failing as a result. If you fail to ensure the installer knows how the anchor should be set you could be one of three parties failing to live up to their responsibilities in this respect.
100 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 76 July 2012
Who is the Code aimed at? Everyone involved in the use of fixings from the manufacturers
and specifiers through distributors to contractors, installers and testers.
What’s in it for the distributor? Responsibilities and opportunities. The Code clearly states
the responsibilities for distributors (referred to as suppliers) in providing the necessary information to enable specifiers to select the correct anchor and to enable contractors to install them correctly. This can usually be achieved simply by passing on the
manufacturer’s information. Less overtly stated is the opportunity the Code affords you in justifying your recommendation to your customer that they should use the most appropriate anchor, usually one carrying a European Technical Approval, and not the cheapest.
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