Standards Development

Scope

This British Standard specifies requirements and tests (see Note) for rigid and flexible portable signs, barriers, self-supporting portable signs, “Stop/Go” and “Stop/Works” signs, school crossing patrol signs, flat traffic delineators, flap signs, pedestrian crossing and refuge beacons, internally illuminated posts, twin amber flashing light units, non-retroreflecting road studs and retroreflective self-righting bollards.

Non-retroreflecting road studs incorporating an active light source are not covered by this standard.

NOTE The tests given in this standard are suitable for both initial type testing and production testing.

Purpose

Following consultation with industry and the user community, agreed revisions were made. These were submitted to the B/509/3 committee for discussion and approval. Two significant errors (and two minor errors) subsequently occurred during the editing stage, but signed off by the technical committees.

First error: a question was raised as a comment by a reviewer from the B/509/3 committee, which was not commented on, but somehow got included in the final draft for public consultation (details of this have been provided to BSI identifying the exact version where the error occurred, which was after the close of full consultation but prior to publication).

Second error: a deletion at the end of a sentence was extended too far and removed a significant and relevant technical requirement. This requirement should have remained as a requirement and should not have changed since the 2015 version. The impact on industry has been significant as a result of both these errors, both of which are controversial. Stock of two types of material and products which are available are now unsuitable. This was not intended. The cost of alternative product is excessive for the user community and again was unanticipated.

The significant impact to industry and the user community cannot be underestimated: it includes the import market as well as the UK market. The product use is substantial and the requirement impacts on the entire portfolio of products within the standard (see above). These errors will directly alter the market and because of the significant volume of product, is having an immediate impact which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The impact is for all highways authorities and all providers of products under the standard. The technical requirement must be reinstated urgently to redress this significant dilemma in the marketplace. There was no intention whatsoever throughout two-year consultation process to change these technical requirements.

Minor errors – Table 3 had data transposed so that the requirements for colour min luminance factor were swapped around. This simply does not provide accurate formula and must be corrected as in the previous version. No changes were identified during the consultation and it is not clear how this happened in the editing stages, save that BSI removed and replaced all tables and images and re-inserted.