Expert commentary

BS 8500-2:2023 — Concrete – Complementary

guidance to BS EN 206 – Part 2: Specification
for constituent materials and concrete
Gareth J Wake, Director, British Ready-mixed Concrete Association,
MPA
 1 Overview

BS 8500-2:2023 is the second part of the two-part complementary British Standard to BS EN 206:2013+A2:2021.
Is specifies requirements of the constituent materials and concrete defined as having established or accepted adequate
performance for use in conditions found in the United Kingdom as well as national provisions, where permitted, by
BS EN 206. The standard was first published in 2002 to give producers the required guidance to manufacture concrete
to align with BS EN 1992 (Eurocode 2) – Design of concrete structures.
There have been a number of revisions and amendments since it was first published to account for revisions of interrelated
standards and to meet the needs of the United Kingdom construction industry. This revision, which wholly replaces
BS 8500-2:2015+A2:2019, is a response to the needs of concrete construction and to incorporate cements introduced in a
new standard, BS EN 197-5:2021. In an industry not normally known for rapid change and acceptance of innovation, the need
to decarbonize concrete has become one of the main priorities for construction and, as a part of that process, the use of
lower carbon concrete is essential. This is the first revision of this standard with the main purpose of improving sustainability
of concrete.
This commentary highlights the main changes and discusses the reasoning behind those amendments.

1.1 Reasons for change

The main reason for this revision is to include and give guidance to the use of cements and their equivalent combinations
introduced in the new standard BS EN 197-5:2021 for the production of concrete. These lower carbon cements use limestone
fines to BS 7979:2016 in combination with Portland cement and another addition, such as ggbs, at greater proportions than
allowed in BS EN 197-1:2011. This gives producers the opportunity to use less carbon-intensive Portland cement, options for
more additions, and to be able to combine more than one of these with Portland cement but at proportions that are familiar
to the United Kingdom market. As the UK has a long history of producing cements by blending cementitious materials in the
concrete mixer, called “combinations”, instead of as a preblended cement from a cement manufacturer, the guidance has to
allow for the varying proportions that could be produced from two or three separate silos containing various cements and
additions.
A requirement for producing combinations of cements and additions, using the BS EN 206:2013+A2:2021 equivalent
performance of combinations concept (EPCC), is that there is a conformity procedure to determine limits of the proportions
of cements and additions used. This process is more complicated now with ternary combinations than it was in previous
versions of the standard and so the procedure and informative examples have been updated to give the required guidance.
As well as the changes summarized below, the opportunity was taken to correct typographical errors, improve the format of
some tables that were difficult to read, update references and to align guidance with other standards.

1.2 Summary of changes

• Inclusion of BS EN 197-5 cements and their equivalent combinations as general-purpose cements
• Redefinition of a production day for air content testing
• Clauses for production, delivery and conformity requirements moved to a new normative annex
• Amendment of the combination conformity procedures for the new equivalent combinations
• Corrections and minor clarifications
• All references have been updated

2 Main Commentary
2.1 Scope of BS 8500-2
The scope of BS 8500-2 is unchanged. It specifies the constituent materials and concrete, as well as specific requirements
relating to the types of concrete in BS 8500-2. It is the complementary standard to BS EN 206 and contains the national
provisions that are required or permitted by BS EN 206. It also gives guidance for materials, methods of testing and
procedures that are outside the scope of BS EN 206, but within United Kingdom experience.

2.2 Terms and definitions

BS 8500-2 does not repeat the definitions given in BS EN 206:2013+A2 or BS 8500-1 as this is a complementary standard
that cannot have contradictory requirements. There has been some improvement in the wording of some definitions and
some additional information provided as notes.

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The following new definitions have been added to the standard:
• Production day (for air content testing; continuous production)
o day on which 150 m3 or more of concrete with a specified air content has been produced or day on which a
cumulative 150 m3 has been produced since the last production day
• Production day (for air content testing; initial production or after non-conformity)
o day on which 50 m3 or more of concrete with a specified air content has been produced or the day on which a
cumulative 50 m3 has been produced since the last production day until three consecutive conforming samples
are taken over three production days
The production day for air entrained concrete in the previous version of BS 8500-2 was a day on which 50 m3 or more of
concrete with a specified air content has been produced or the day on which a cumulative 50 m3 has been produced since
the last production day. This requirement was far more onerous than other conformity requirements and so the production
day (effectively the test rate) has been relaxed to a test every 150 m3. This was due to the low numbers of nonconformities
seen from air entrained concrete. However, during the period of initial production, or if there is a nonconforming measured
air content, the production day is 50 m3 until there are three consecutive conforming results taken over three production
days.

2.3 Subclause 4.2 – Cement, additions and combinations

The subclause 4.2 – Cement and combinations has been significantly expanded with a detailed commentary explaining the
difference between “cements” and “combinations”, and their associated nomenclature used in Table 1 – General purpose
cements and combinations. Although BS EN 14216:2015 very low heat special cements are not specifically listed in Table 1,
their equivalent combination designations are explained so that they may be specified to this standard.
The previous version of BS 8500-2 defined additions as being either Type I (inert) or Type II (reactive) to align with
BS EN 206. In BS 8500:2023, additions are either “additions for combinations”, so considered part of the cementitious
material, or “other additions for concrete” which are inert such as fillers and pigments. This is to allow for additions that
have a range of reactivities with their contribution to the total cement content calculated using the cement by equivalent
performance of combinations concept (EPCC), equivalent concrete performance concept (ECPC), or the use of additions by
kvalue concept. These are explained in detail in 4.2.3 Additions as part of the cement.

2.4 Table 1 – General purpose cements

The cements included as general-purpose cements, their equivalent combinations, additional requirements for composition,
and notation are listed in Table 1. The column showing the cement grouping used by BRE Special Digest 1: Concrete in
aggressive ground, has been removed as this is now part of the combined performance category defined in BS 8500-1:2023,
Table A.6.
An additional column has been added to show the equivalent combination notation to prevent confusion between concrete
supplied with the cement and additions combined at the concrete plant and those manufactured at the cement works. The
main new cements and combinations included in the standard are those which combine Portland cement (clinker) with a
combination of ggbs and limestone fines, fly ash and limestone fines, and ggbs and fly ash that conform to the requirements
of BS EN 197-1:2011 and BS EN 197-5:2021.
CEM III/C and CEM III/C+SR, and their equivalent combinations CIIIC and CIIIC+SR, which contain between 81% and 95%
ggbs have been included in Table 1. As their use is generally limited to geotechnical works, they have not been assigned a
combined performance category, so do not appear in BS 8500-1:2023, Table A.6, but do have an assumed BRE Special
Digest 1 grouping of “F” for use in aggressive ground conditions.

2.5 Table 3 – Limitations on the use of coarse CCA

A small, but potentially significant change to the allowable exposure classes for coarse crushed concrete aggregate is that it
may now be used in concrete with XD1 conditions (corrosion induced by chlorides other than from sea water). This exclusion
has prevented the use of this type of low-risk recycled aggregate in parts of structures with only occasional or slight chloride
conditions. The change removes this barrier which should help with circularity.

2.6 Table 7 – Requirements for designated concretes for general applications

The limiting values of characteristic strength, minimum cement content and maximum water/cement ratio for the
designated concretes are unchanged but the allowable cements, combinations and combined performance categories are
now listed for each. As not all cements within a combined performance category can be specified for certain designated
concretes, both combined performance category and broad cement designations are listed in the table.

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2.7 Table 10 – Limiting values of composition and properties for concrete where a DC-class is specified
Table 10 provides the limiting values for use in aggressive ground conditions for different maximum aggregate sizes and
design chemical classes (DC-classes). This table links to the guidance given in BRE Special Digest 1 and has been revised to
use the combined performance categories of the cement and combinations. This link is to ensure that, although last revised
in 2005, BRE Special Digest 1 remains current, with BS 8500 providing updates to guidance for new cements that fits within
the framework of the digest.

2.8 Annex A – Requirements for production, transport, delivery, conformity testing and conformity criteria
In the previous version of BS 8500-2, the normative requirements for production, transport, delivery, conformity testing
and conformity criteria were contained within the main body of the text. As BS 8500-2 is the specification of constituent
materials and concrete, this was clearly not the correct place for these requirements. As all of these were normative, it was
agreed that the requirements were necessary and should remain within this part of the standard, so were moved to a new
Annex A. This change means that what was Annex A, the conformity procedure for combinations, is now Annex B; Minimizing
the risk of damaging alkali-silica reaction in concrete is Annex C; Examples of the conformity procedure is now Annex D; and
the BS 8500 provisions linked to BS EN 206 requirements is Annex E.
Any changes to the requirement of this annex are minor and just to aid clarity and understanding.

2.9 Annex B – Conformity procedure for combinations

This annex, which details the normative conformity procedure for establishing the suitability of combinations of cements and
additions, has an expanded range of cements and allowable additions that may be used for binary and ternary equivalent
combinations. These are assessed for conformity using the BS EN 206 equivalent performance of combinations concept
(EPCC).
The additional cements that have been included in the conformity procedure are CEM II/B-V and CEM III/A, with the cements
CEM I and CEM II/A-L being retained from the last version of the standard. The allowable additions, and the number of
additions, that may be combined with each cement are listed.
As it was noted that the proportion of limestone fines in a Portland limestone cement (CEM II/A-L) reduces as the proportion
of addition, such as fly ash, increases, the standard now allows limestone fines to be added to the combination to
compensate for this loss of proportion and contribute to the total cement content, with conformity limits for the proportions
of additions set by this procedure.
In the context of producing the lowest carbon concrete possible, it was noted that combining a binary cement of fixed
proportion with an addition was not as effective as combining Portland cement and two additions. By allowing the addition
of limestone fines to the binary combination of Portland limestone cement with another addition, the concrete producer can
produce the lowest carbon concrete that conforms to the requirements of the cements standards with limits determined by
the EPCC.
This change gives producers a wider range of options for the production of lower-carbon concretes depending on the plant
configuration and available cements.

2.10 Annex D – Example of the conformity procedure given in Annex B

As it is a requirement for the producer to declare conformity for the limits of composition of the combinations as detailed in
Annex A, Annex D gives informative examples of a procedure to demonstrate conformity.
With the introduction of multicomponent cements where there are two varying proportions, the procedure has become
more complicated and onerous with guidance given in a new subclause D.4.5 Principal for further combinations, with an
accompanying Table D.7 that gives example mass fractions of the combinations for a binary Portland limestone cement with
ggbs and with additional limestone fines. This procedure allows interpolation of the limits of additional limestone fines that
may be added to the CEM II/A-L and ggbs combination but remain conforming to Table B.1.

3 Next steps

As this is an iteration of the current version of BS 8500-2, readers who are familiar with the current standard should not find
this revision too different to the previous version as the methods of specification of the constituent materials for concrete
have remained similar.

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Documentation such as standard forms and systems may need to be revised to allow for the changes in nomenclature and
the increased number of cements and equivalent combinations.
Suggested actions:
• Review and revise internal documentation, computer systems and any other local procedures that are used for the
specification of concrete to ensure compatibility with the revised standard.
It is important that both those specifying and receiving concrete specifications understand the requirements and the
changes to the standard.
• Review training needs for those involved in specifying, or the interpretation of specifications, to ensure competency for
the production, or review of concrete specifications.
Any party involved with the assessment of conformity of combinations will need to review current procedures and decide
how to implement a testing regime that shows the required limits of additions for equivalent combinations.
• Review and revise test schedules and procedures to follow the new guidance in Annexes B and D of BS 8500-2 to ensure
that upper limits of the proportions of additions for ternary combinations are determined for conformity certification.

4 Further reading

BS EN 206:2013+A2:2021, Concrete – Specification, performance, production and conformity

BS EN 197-5:2021, Cement – Part 5: Portland-composite cement CEM II/C-M and Composite cement CEM VI
BS 7979:2016, Specification for limestone fines for use with Portland cement
BS 8500-1:2023, Concrete – Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206 – Part 2: Specification for constituent materials and
concrete
BRE Group, (2005) ‘Concrete in Aggressive Ground’, Special Digest 1, 3rd edition, Watford: Building Research Establishment
The Power of Standards, https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/explore-standards/the-power-of-standards/overview-
guide-to-implementation/

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 Author
Gareth Wake is the Director of the British Ready-mixed Concrete Association (BRMCA), a part of the Mineral Products
Association (MPA) which is a trade association for aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime,
mortar and industrial sand industries. Gareth worked for 25 years in technical management for RMC (Readymix),
CEMEX UK and CRH Tarmac. He sits on a number of BSI and CEN committees including CEN/TC 104, CEN/TC 104/
SC 1, and CEN/TC 104/SC 1/TG 18. Gareth is also the Chair of BSI committees B/517 – Concrete, B/517/1 – Concrete
Production and Testing, and B/517/1/WG 20 – Specification,, for which he is also the technical author.

Reviewers
Richard Kershaw, Technical Manager, CEMEX UK

Disclaimer
 This commentary is commissioned text from expert authorities in their industry. It has been commissioned, edited and reviewed for technical accuracy
before publication but remains the personal opinion of the individual experts who have provided it. It is not official British Standards guidance.
Accordingly, BSI cannot accept liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage arising from a reliance on the commentary except to the extent that
such liability may not be excluded by law.

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