| In the context of the Eurocodes time seems to have its own special meaning. It certainly marches on, and whilst generally ‘slow’ would seem to the best adjective, at certain points this is not the case.
It is quite clear from conversations with our Members, and questions asked of the SCI Advisory Desk, that some designers are only now struggling to come to terms with the codes. OK, the UK regulatory system gives designers quite a lot of freedom, but let’s not forget that it is five years ago this month since the previous National Standards were withdrawn. That feels like quite a long time.On the other hand time is ‘speeding up’ for the Eurocode evolution process. Just as many practitioners are starting to come to terms with the current codes, work is about to begin on updating them. This updating will have a particular focus on making them easier to use. Calls will go out within the next few weeks asking experts to apply to join the so-called Project Teams to develop the revised versions. SCI is heavily involved in this process. It is not clear whether competition will be fierce (there will be strict criteria against which applicants are rated), or there will be a lack of good applicants.If you are ‘a beginner’ struggling to cope with the Eurocodes, we can use our understanding of the technical rules, where those rules are going, and indeed the ‘politics’ of using Eurocodes, to help you meet your aims. A good example is the jointly badged SCI-ECCS guide to EN1993-1-1 that will be published next month (April 2015), which gives lots of insight into the code rules. EUROCODE VIDEO THE SECOND GENERATION |