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7671 for buttons

lyledunn
Once I would have shelled out gladly for any technical document that I felt my wee company would need. As a part-time college tutor I also had the luxury of free access to BS standards. Now it seems that I have an almost Shylock approach to such things. BS7671 is totally indispensable for me so digging for that £80 wasn’t too bad but compare that to the eye-watering £380 for BS 5839-1 2017! 

The difference between the 2013 version and the new 2017 version is really quite minimal. For small contractors doing two or three fire alarm installations per year the cost of updating to the new standard is really quite prohibitive. I guess if they have access to the 2013 version they will continue to comply almost by default.

The cost of these standards is far too high, more especially because they change so frequently.

BS 7671 is, by comparison, for buttons!

  • 0
    lyledunn,

    Totally agree with what you say and Im in a similar situation to you. Last year a number of standards I need to refer to were updated and cost to purchase them all were into four figures.

    I did make an enquiry about becoming a member of BSI as you will see in the BSI shop members get usually a 50% discount. BSI quoted me just over £200 ex vat annually as a sole trader to become a member, so just doing that may certainly bring costs down depending on the number of standards you normally refer to.So cost of membership alone saved me a good few hundred pounds.

    I agree they are expensive but suppose they will indicate supply and demand, and cost to produce etc?


    Cheers GTB.
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    At one time Hampshire Libraries had a subscription, but that went some time ago. You may want to check your local library services. I currently have access to most BS (but not BS 7671!) as an Open University student. The value of the BS that I have downloaded may exceed the fees. ?


    FWIW, I think that the BS should be free of charge because on the whole they are for the safety of the community.
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    I too am in the same boat. The best bit is that often you can't tell whether a change is material or literally just a re-issue and update of references, or if the answer you're looking for is actually in the document you think it is, without forking out.


    I have, in the past, made solid use of the IET's subscription to BSI online at Savoy Place as none of the public libaries near me had access and it was cheaper and quicker to go to London for the purpose. And I sometimes have a list of things to look up in the back of my notebook on case I do have spare time after a meeting in the Big Smoke. But just as with local libraries you do have to show up in person and sadly it wasn't open due to Covid last time I checked... although the librarians were able to look up a data table for me! This is of course a members thing, but it's a useful benefit.

    Chris Pearson‍ I also agree with you and have occaisionally daydreamed about penning a letter to my MP to that effect (plus the benefit to the economy by jumpstarting the ability of smaller firms to compete and innovate). I rather suspect that with a token payment to avoid silliness, and a sliding scale for larger organisations, the adverse impact to BSI's revenue wouldn't actually be that much, as it'd be opening up access to people who would simply manage without, rely on second hand references or indeed various hooky versions available online...
  • 0
    I agree - overall price of standards is likely to be a barrier to their use, and not just for the < 10 employees companies.


    IEC 60617 (Graphical symbols for diagrams) is probably the worst for this - the subscription to the symbols database is 600 Swiss Francs (about GPB 500) for the first year, and 200 Swiss Francs for each year after that - if you ever wonder why we never see two projects with the same drawing symbols in the industry ?
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    BS 7671 is, by comparison, for buttons!

    I believe that the BSI normally price their standards according to the number of pages in them (or at least they used to) - and if I recall correctly when the Wiring Regs were adopted as a BS it would have meant a very significant hike in the cover price so some kind of deal was done to price BS 7671 differently (no doubt on the basis that it'll sell many more copies than the average BS).


       - Andy.
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    One way to illustrate what a "bargain" BS7671 is, compared to typical standards prices, would be to add up the cost of all the individual parts of IEC 60364 that it is based on.

    Browsing BSI shop (other sources are available including buying direct from IEC), a few examples are:
    IEC 60364-1 Fundamental principles, assessment of general characteristics, definitions (so effectively parts 1,2 and 3 of  BS7671) £196
    IEC 60364-6 Verification £196


    Parts 4, 5 and 7 are split over several documents. Special locations are listed individually, so again a few examples to show variation in prices:
    IEC 60364-7-701 Locations containing a bath or shower   £140
    IEC 60364-7-702 Swimming pools and fountains               £116
    IEC 60364-7-703 Locations containing sauna heaters       £16
    IEC 60364-7-704 Construction and demolition sites          £56
    IEC 60364-7-712 Solar PV                                                       £248

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    The German version of the Wiring Regs is VDE 0100.


    It is usually sold in "parts" like IEC 60364 ... I've never compared the cost vs revisions, but a quick finger in the air is that we are most definitely on the right side.

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