For publishers of gas technical manuals the years 2004/2005/2006 were extremely hectic and costly, due to the vast number of British Standards that were amended and released during this period. At one point it was almost impossible to keep pace with the flow of changes and that period looks as though it is about to repeat itself – but is it all necessary?
BSi have recently taken to review all standards on a regular timescale, this is in addition to any amendments, or corrections, that may be issued at any time. In most circumstances the review period will be every five years. BSi have just released a list of gas related standards that will be reviewed during 2009, and if necessary released as amended/up-dated standards during 2009, or 2010.
Currently, there are approximately twenty five British Standards that are relevant to gas, and with the standards ranging in price from £30 to £200, (e.g. BS 5440 for flues is now £196.00 for non members of BSi), it can prove to be a costly business to keep up to date. If past performance is anything to go by we will probably be making changes in the future to the main foundations of gas installation Flueing, Ventilation, Tightness Testing and Installation Procedures. Members can obtain a list of the British Standards due for review in the technical bulletins section of the members area.
We are totally in agreement to amend standards when changes in technology dictate, or further research provides new information that would make the industry safer. However, the question many raise focuses on whether it is really necessary to amend documents, and ultimately ACS assessments, when the changes are either purely changes in terminology, for example calling a flue a chimney, or changing a measurement, for example the suggested approximate termination height for a cooker plug in connection.
Unfortunately, the ACS system has in the past concentrated on specific figures for many questions, where in reality the figure in question is never really measured with the accuracy used for the ACS question. For us that is the problem, if we ignore the minor changes to a standard, eventually the publication will not provide the correct theoretical answer for the ACS question – but whether that affects gas safety is open to debate.
However, this where we believe we do have an advantage over the publishers of printed material – at least we can make changes and upload the amended chapters for members to have the latest information, We accept that a few pages may have to be reprinted, but that must be a better option than having to chuck the whole manual away and purchase another copy, and then another copy, and so on. In time we believe that the mobile edition will eliminate the need to print the revised information, although we fully accept that many still prefer a printed copy.
Our latest upgrade to the site has split the publications into specific subject areas and removed duplication, wherever possible, between domestic, commercial and LPG.
Keywords: British Standards BSI BSI Amendments BSI Corrections Gas Standards Gas Installation Flueing Ventilation Tightness Testing Installation Procedures ACS ACS System Gas Training Manuals
