Standards
There are a range of Standards that directly relate to play and sports facilities and it is important to comprehend which are appropiate for your needs.
British Standards Instution are the UK body producing a range of Standards relating to both good construction practice and safety.
BSI operate through national committees of experts from relevant national organisations and individual experts. They are members of The European
Standards organisation CEN and the International Standards organisations ISO. BSI publish Standards in their own right (BS) or as part of
that other organisation e.g. BS EN a British and European Standard.
The Standards relating to play and sport are not legal requirements within the UK (in some countries they are e.g. Germany and France) they however represent
the national ly gathered guidance and in the case of European Standards (EN) that of the 30 European nations.
European Standards (EN) are normally published by the Standards body of the relevant country, in the UK that is BSI where they are known as a BSEN and contain
a national forword for that country. The standard is the same for each every country.
European Standards now form the major part of BSI's work and it is important to appreciate that they are normally drafted in one language and then published in
the 3 offical languages, English, French & German. In play and sport the UK are fortunate that the drafting language was English, this is important as transalations, even official
ones lose some of the original intent/ meaning.
BSI also publish Product Approval Scheme (PAS) for work that is not an officially standard but recognised as an approved document by the UK bodies.
PD a BSI Published Document giving information.
prEN a pre (draft) European Standard