In August 2015, BSI Published the new standard BS 8597 “Steels for the reinforcement of concrete- Reinforcement Couplers-Requirements and test methods”. The standard was prepared by BSI committee ISE/104, under the chairmanship of Dr Tony Franks. The standard is the first to be published in the UK covering the testing and requirements for mechanical couplers for reinforcing steels. The standard uses some tests already specified in ISO 15835, but modified to reflect UK practice. The standard is specifically applicable to the use of couplers in conjunction with reinforcing steels according to BS 4449, and as such is expected to find application widely around the world wherever BS 4449 is specified.

R-TECH Services is the premier UK laboratory for testing mechanical couplers for reinforcing steels, and is able to conduct all tests required by the standard, including multiple slip tests, where the slip across all connectins within the coupler is individually measured. We can also perform the required high cycle fatigue tests, either to the Highways England specification, or to produce design S/N data.

R-TECH Services is able to provide all of the tests required by the standard, including slip, tensile and fatigue tests.