SCI to consult industry on Eurocode transition

British Standards (BSI) has contracted SCI to find out what designers need in making the switch to Eurocodes, with the aim of creating a new generation of standards-based products and information to ease transition to the new codes.

The initiative has been endorsed by the Institution of Civil Engineers, which has been calling for efforts to reduce the burden on its members in what it describes as ‘undoubtedly the biggest change to our structural design standards for a generation’.

SCI’s Senior Manager for Information Technology John Moran, said: “We need to talk to practical designers about how they use standards documents, what issues are likely to arise during the transition to Eurocode design and what they expect BSI to do.”

SCI and BSI are planning a number of user workshops to look at how the Eurocodes work and assess what designers think should be done.

Those taking part in the workshops will be issued with free copies of the general parts of Eurocodes 2 and 3 for concrete and steel respectively. They will also be among the first to receive the new Burgundy Book, with Eurocode-compliant load-span tables for steel sections.