Density Requirements for Normal and Heavy-weight Concrete

Normal and heavyweight concrete density is assessed on target values with tolerances of 100kg/m3 on the average density
calculated on groups of results or 130kg/m3 on individual results. However, it is not intended that density on normal-weight
concrete be made a specification requirement. Density is determined in accordance with BS EN 12390-7.

Chloride Classes
BS EN 206-1 has introduced the concept of chloride class and this will have to be declared on all delivery tickets for designed concrete and may
have to declared for other concretes where required by the specifier.

Table 6:
Chloride classes

BS 8500 recommends that, where concrete is to be prestressed and where concrete contains reinforcement or other metal that is to be heat cured,
chloride class Cl 0,10 should be specified. Other concrete that contains reinforcement or other embedded metal should be specified as chloride
class Cl 0,40 except where SRPC (sulfate resisting Portland cement conforming to BS 4027) is used in this situation chloride class Cl 0,20 should
be specified.

Concrete Types

standardized prescribed concrete.

A new form of specification introduced in BS 8500

is proprietary concrete, this has been introduced to
allow concrete producers to supply branded
products for specialist applications. The producer is
not required to declare the mix composition, but
does give an assurance that the concrete will fulfil
the specified application requirements, assuming it
has been properly placed, compacted and cured. It
should be noted that admixtures with the exception
of air entraining admixtures may now be used in

The traditional UK methods of specifying concrete have been retained in BS 8500 and one other concrete type added. In future one should refer
to "concrete type" instead of "mix type". Therefore it is incorrect to use the term " designed mix", the correct term is now "designed concrete".

Table 7: Concrete types

Sulfate and Aggressive Ground Conditions

BS 8500 has adopted the recommendations for minimisation of sulfate and other aggressive chemicals prescribed in Special Digest 1 published by
the Building Research Establishment. It should be noted that the exposure classes listed in BS 5328 and BS 8110 (i.e. severe, abrasive) have been
superseded by a new European system. Local technical managers will be able to provide advice on this.

Conformity
The European Standard has introduced the concept of Conformity evaluation, this requires the concrete producer to take
responsibility for declaring that the concrete conforms to the requirements of the standard based on regular testing and
statistical analysis of ongoing results. Where a purchaser tests concrete this is termed identity testing. Identity testing is based on a very limited
number of results obtained over a very short time period, whereas conformity evaluation is based on results obtained over an extended period of
time. Third party quality assurance bodies will check the records of readymixed concrete producers to verify they are implementing the conformity
procedures correctly.

GUIDE TO BS EN 206-1 & BS8500

(THE NEW CONCRETE STANDARDS)

The New Concrete Standards

On the 1st of December 2003 the UK Concrete Standard BS 5328 (published in four parts) will be withdrawn. This Standard is being replaced by
two Standards, a European Standard and a complementary British Standard, these are:

BS EN 206-1: Concrete - Part 1: Specification, performance, production and conformity.

BS 8500 Concrete - Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206-1.

BS 8500 has been published in two parts:

BS 8500-1, Methods of specifying and guidance for the specifier,

BS 8500-2, Specification for constituent materials and concrete.

Some individuals may question which of the standards they should use, the answer is that both Standards need to be used to specify concrete.

BS EN 206-1 is applicable across the whole of the European Union and at present it has not been possible to agree all the parameters that need to
be included in a concrete specification. For example, the requirements for concrete to resist attack from aggressive agents (e.g. ice, snow etc)
in the Nordic countries are different to those required in the Mediterranean region because of local climatic conditions. The European Standard
(BS EN 206-1) has identified these parameters, which are called environmental actions, but has not given advice on how to specify concrete to resist
durability failures. This is given in Part 1 of the UK complementary Standard. It should also be noted that the majority of the testing standards
within the BS1881 series are also being withdrawn.

Workability -- Consistence

The term workability has been dropped from the new concrete standards and replaced by the term consistence.

Measurement of Consistence

Flow Table test

Degree of Compactability

There are four methods of assessing (measuring) consistence given in the European Standard (BS EN 206-1), these are:
Slump test
Vebe test

Generally, only the slump test and the flow table test will be called up in specifications in the UK (BS 8500 only lists these two tests). It should be
noted that the degree of compactability test is not the same as the compacting factor test, which has been used in the UK for many years.
(Concrete is sampled in accordance with BS EN 12350-1).

Specification of Consistence

The specification of consistence will in future be by consistence class. The classes for the slump test are:

Slump classes

Table 1:

Table 2:
Slump target tolerances

Where a customer requires a concrete with a slump, which is at a level other than the mid point of a slump class, they should order a Target slump,
a set of tolerances apply to the target value as shown in Table 2. It should be noted that slump measurements are reported to the nearest 10mm
instead of the current practice of reporting to the nearest 5mm.

The slump test is undertaken in accordance with BS EN 12350-2.

The classes for the flow table are shown in Table 3:

Table 3:
Flow classes

Flow may also be specified by target values, the tolerance for all values is +30mm for conformity evaluation, for a single
composite sample it is -45, +60mm and for a single spot sample taken from the initial discharge -55, +70mm.
Flow is
reported to the nearest 10mm instead of the nearest 5mm as in BS 1881, the Flow Table test is undertaken in accordance with BS EN 12350-5.

Specifying Strength
Traditionally, in the UK concrete compressive strength has been specified by a compressive strength grade e.g. C30. This represents the strength
achieved by a cube when tested at twenty-eight days.

C40/50

Minimum cube strength

The European Standard BS EN 206-1 has

adopted a different approach, this has been
necessary because the European structural
design codes are based on cylinder strength. In
the short/medium term there may be some
confusion, because some designers will
continue to work to the old UK codes for a few
years.
A dual classification system for

Minimum cylinder strength

Indicates that the concrete is normal or heavy-weight

specifying compressive strength will therefore

apply with the first number representing
cylinder strength and the second number
representing cube strength. The basis of
concrete supply in the UK will be cube strength
(cubes are made and cured in accordance with
BS EN 12390-2 and tested in accordance with
BS EN 12390-3). The example illustrates the
approach that has been adopted.

Strength Classes in the Standards

A further change in terminology is that the term strength grade has been dropped and replaced by the term strength class. Traditionally, strength
classes have increased in most instances by increments of 5N/mm2 (i.e. 15, 20, 25, 30). The fact that cylinders are the primary design values has
led to some changes to this approach due to the conversion from cylinder to cube strength. Table 4 shows the range of strength classes that have

strength classes

Table 4:
Compressive

been adopted for normal weight and heavy-weight concrete and or light-weight concrete. It should be noted that the classes are different and that
light-weight concrete is indicated by the designatory letters "LC". The two strength classes marked with an asterisk (C28/35 and C32/40) are not
included in BS EN 206-1, but have been included in BS 8500 to take account of UK durability requirements.

Air Content

minimum air content 3,0%

minimum air content 3,5%
minimum air content 5,5%

BS 5328 specified a target value with tolerances either side of the target. The new Standards have adopted a different approach and air
entrainment is now specified by a minimum value with a tolerance of +4%. The quantity of air entrainment is still related to the
maximum aggregate size:
40mm maximum aggregate size
20mm maximum aggregate size
10mm maximum aggregate size

Normal-weight and heavy-weight concrete should be specified by

This makes little difference to current practice, as normally a concrete producer would target the middle of the range (e.g. for a 20mm maximum
aggregate size target 5,5%). Air content is measured in accordance with BS EN 12350-6.

Density Classes for Light-weight Concrete

BS EN 206-1 has introduced Density classes for light-weight concrete.

target value. The density classes for light-weight concrete are:

Table 5:
Density classes for
light-weight
concrete

An alternative approach is to supply to a target density, the tolerance is +100kg/m3 on the average density calculated on groups of results
or +130kg/m3 on individual results.