BSEN12588:2006 - the continued use of code numbers

In response to received questions for our customers and specifiers:

“Why, when attending industry training and professional CPD's, whilst referencing 12588, have I not been made aware of the full extent of the Colour Code range?”

“How have manufacturing codes, not the Colour Codes as tabled within 12588 ended up in training manuals as well as other  national standards BS6915 and BS5534?”

“Why is it, when Sustainability is such a hot topic, has the industry not made more of the good that wider choice can do?

“Why are we not hearing this from others’ that claim to speak for the industry?”

“We can understand that older generations continue to reference historic imperial sizes. What we don’t understand is how manufacturers and industry bodies such as associations and training organisations continue to use these outdated code references today..?”

Note: These questions should not be read as the views of Abbey Metals or any of its employees. Rather, it’s our attempt to distil the views/questions of tens of Contractors and Specifiers that we’ve spoken with.

Our opinion:

Its’ simple; we believe that the continued use of these old imperial codes, restricts choice and will, in may circumstances, result in the overspecification of Lead products.

So why?

Many of the questions and subsequent comments that we receive allude to the same unspoken conclusion; and for the record, you are not alone, as it also puzzles us. We put it down to being, ‘one of the mysteries of the orient’ how all those “unbiased and impartial” bodies and organisations have ‘independently’ read ‘the exact same document [BSEN12588:2006]’, that ‘does not refer to, nor describe imperial descriptions’ such as ‘Code 4’; yet they all use these very same descriptions[?]. Furthermore, they ‘all’ independently, decided to remove the same colour code from the local market[?].

Maybe in some cases, it could be argued that they all miraculously use the same terminology that the market understands. But then, if this is the case, surely, with sustainability and claims regarding caring about the environment, there would be a drive to educate the next generations of specifiers, installers and the industry as a whole, as to the advantages of using the metric sizes.

Alas, there does not seem to be such a drive, so it falls to us to deliver the message - and we can’t do it on our own. So please share and let’s start a conversation.