of total and open porosity
BS EN 772-11 Determination of water absorption by capillary action
These three drafts have been submitted to formal vote and all have been
approved and issued by BSI.
The specification part (EN 771-6) was submitted for formal vote as a ‘market
standard’ and to the surprise of many was approved and it is now available as
a BS EN. The ‘harmonised version’ has been drafted and a version was
discussed at a meeting held in Brussels in March 2001.
The potential conflict between the documents from TC125 and TC246
– where
both committees have drafted test methods for water absorption, porosity and
compressive strength - has still not been resolved. However, it is hoped that
the draft from TC125 will include provision for the acceptance of results from
tests carried out in accordance with the test methods of TC246.
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Technical Committee 128 -
Roof covering products for discontinuous laying
This committee includes a Sub-committee (SC8) that is responsible for the
preparation of the standards for slate and stone products for roofing.
The requirements for the work covered by this committee are covered by:
prEN 12326 -1 Specification
BS EN 12326-2 Test methods
The test methods have been approved and issued as a British Standard but the
final draft of the specification is still to be issued and until it is there is
no requirement for the tests to be called up or referred to.
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Technical Committee 178 - Paving units and kerbs
CEN/TC 178 includes standards for clay, concrete and natural stone for
paving, setts and kerbs. Working Group 2 is responsible for the standards on
natural stone.
The ‘market’ standards relating to stone (BS EN1341, BS EN1342, BS
EN1343) were released during March 2000 and the revised ‘harmonised’
standards that include all the requirements of the mandate were sent to CEN in
July 2000. It was agreed that they follow the Unique Acceptance Procedure (UAP)
which combines a short Public Enquiry with the Formal Vote.
The drafts were commented on by the CEN Consultant (Adam Pinney) and these
have now been incorporated into the final versions. Once all three language
versions were available the drafts were sent to national standards organisations
for approval. The first results were received in April 2001 with EN 1342 and
EN
1343 were approved, news of EN 1341 is still awaited. These are some of the
first harmonised standards that have been approved to provide the basis of CE
marking for construction products.
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Technical Committee 246 - Natural stone
The drafts being developed by this committee cover the use of natural stone
for internal and external cladding, and internal paving. There are three working
groups – WG1 is responsible for standards on terminology for natural stone,
WG2 for test methods and WG3 for specifications and evaluation of conformity.
The specification parts are:
Semi-finished products
prEN 1467 Specification for Rough Blocks
prEN 1468 Specification for Rough Slabs
Internal and external cladding
prEN 1469 Specification for Cladding
Internal flooring
prEN 12057 Specification for Modular Tiles
prEN 12058 Specification for Slabs for Floors and Stairs
Drafts of these were circulated before the Plenary meeting in June 2000 but
it was clear that they still contained a number of mistakes. It was agreed to
seek comments on them and that UNI (the Italian Standards Organisation) would
revise them for approval at the special meeting Plenary Meeting in October 2000.
In the UK they were circulated to the Stone Federation and BSI for comment.
Revised versions were circulated prior to the meeting in Milan on 2nd
and 3rd October. These were discussed and further changes were agreed
in line with the comments received, the relevant mandates and the current CEN
rules.
It was agreed that the three specifications that are mandated (prEN 1469
Specification for Cladding; prEN 12057 Specification for Modular Tiles; prEN
12058 Specification for Slabs for Floors and Stairs) would be redrafted by UNI
and circulated by email for approval. However, since there was still no
agreement on these drafts a further meeting was held in Milan on 15th
and 16th February 2001. Following further comments made at the
meeting the three drafts were approved for UAP. The other two specifications (prEN
1467 and prEN 1468) are to be revised in line with the three agreed documents
and then these will be submitted to the meeting of TC246 in June 2001.
The test methods have continued to progress and the current status is:
The first seven test methods have now been approved at formal vote and so
they are now full European Standards. The standards are:
EN 1925 Natural stone test methods – Determination of water
absorption coefficient by capillarity
EN 1926 Natural stone test methods – Determination of compressive strength
EN 1936 Natural stone test methods – Determination of real density
and apparent density and of total porosity and open porosity.
EN 12370 Natural stone test methods – Determination of resistance
to crystallisation
EN 12372 Natural stone test methods – Determination of flexural
strength under concentrated load
EN 12407 Natural stone test methods – Petrographic description
EN 12440 Denomination of natural stones
The next set of standards for formal vote include:
prEN 12371 Natural stone test methods – Determination of frost resistance
(Formal vote due to start June 2000 but still awaiting translations)
prEN 12670 Terminology of natural stones
(Awaiting translations)
prEN 13161 Natural stone test methods – Determination of flexural
strength under constant momentum
(Formal vote to started June 2000)
prEN 13373 Natural stone test methods – Determination of geometric
characteristics on units
prEN 13364 Natural stone test methods – Determination of breaking
load around a fixing point
prEN 13755 Natural stone test methods – Determination of water
absorption at atmospheric pressure
The following drafts were revised at BRE and they have now been sent for
public enquiry:
prEN …(WI 00246012) Natural stone test methods – Determination of the velocity of sound
prEN …(WI 00246014) Natural stone test methods – Determination of abrasion resistance
prEN …(WI 00246015) Natural stone test methods – Determination of Knoop hardness
prEN …(WI 00246016) Natural stone test methods – Determination of thermal shock resistance
prEN …(WI 00246019) Natural stone test methods – Determination of rupture energy (Impact resistance)
prEN …(WI 00246032) Natural stone test methods – Determination of ageing by salt mist
prEN …(WI 00246033) Natural stone test methods – Determination of resistance to ageing by humidity, temperature SO2
action
prEN …(WI 00246035) Natural stone test methods
