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BRE Digest 437

Whilst one or two floor manufacturers would have you believe that the BRE Digest 437 must be complied with, this is not the case.

The digest was developed in the late 1990's with the aim of bringing together an industrial standard in a single document.

Following consultation with various industry parties, the Digest was published in April 1999 but in a somewhat truncated manner - i.e. various conclusions were excluded when the document was drafted.

Very soon after publication, certain weaknesses were exposed and a committee was formed to highlight these discrepancies and rewrite the document bringing it more in line with industry standard.

The resultant re-draft was circulated soon afterwards but it was never adopted and the project appears to have been allowed to become "mothballed" since no further development has taken place since this time.

The document remains useful in terms of its ability to act as a guidance tool - it is not however a binding document nor does it have any legislative weight.

As an aside, whilst the document appears to suggest that P5 or P7 boards must be utilized in mezzanine design, P6 remains the industry standard and accounts for the majority of boards utilized (and manufactured) for mezzanine use - P5 moisture resistant still remains a choice not a given!