British Standards Institute (BSI) formalities have been completed and work can now get underway on a review of drylining and partitioning standards.
The FPDC led review is actually taking in three separate standards: BS 8212, BS 5234 and BS 8000 part 8. These standards are closely linked and crossreference one another heavily, so to update them all at the same time makes a great deal of sense and, although it may sound rather daunting, will actually save quite a lot of duplicated work in the longer term.
The main purpose of a review of this nature is to bring standards up to date and to ensure their content is relevant and appropriate for the market as it stands today. All of the three standards have been in existence for a considerable time and have not been subjected to a review since their last issue, so the task is timely to say the least.
We aim to amalgamate the documents named above into one all-encompassing standard which will give rules and guidelines for the design, installation and correct inspection of drylining systems. Tolerances and levels of achievable finish will be high on the agenda, as well as detailed guidance to assist designers in specifying the correct products and systems from the outset; so often, mis-specification is the root cause of problems later on with finished tolerances or allegations of poor workmanship.
The code of practice should represent best practice and help to produce work of a high standard. It should also be pragmatic and allow designers and installers to use them in the ‘real world’, so striking this balance will be a key component of the work the group undertakes.
If you have any queries or would like to be involved in the process please contact technical@fpdc.org
