BSEN12588:2006 - the continued use of code numbers

Response to questions received from 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is how manufacturers and industry bodies such as associations and training organisations continue to use these outdated code references today..?”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?

Much of the feedback that we receive result in the repeat of the same question being asked, which is; "How is it that “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 the very same bodies 'all' use the imperial references when describing their products[?]." Furthermore, they ‘all’ independently, decided to remove the same colour code from the local market[?].

It could be argued that it is coincidence that the same terminology is used as these are the descriptions understood by the market. What is true is that when considerations relating to sustainability, environment and affordability is taken into account, we are surprised that the industry as a whole, from manufacturers', training schools and industry representative bodies have yet to embark on a drive to educate the next generation of specifiers, installers and the industry as a whole, as to the advantages of using a wider range of sizes as described within the standards.

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.