FACTA publishes new specification

The Fabricated Access Covers Trade Association (FACTA) is pleased to announce publication of the new FACTA Specification. FACTA is the leading industry body at the forefront of the fabricated access cover industry.

The purpose of the FACTA Specification is to address the shortcomings of BS EN 124:1994 which was published primarily for brittle cast iron materials and took little account of the elastic behaviour of steel and aluminium products.

Additionally, BS EN 124 leaves a large gulf in load classes between 1.5 tonne (A15) and 12.5 tonne (B125) cover ratings which the FACTA Specification sought to fill. Consequently, FACTA AA and FACTA AAA load classes were conceived to provide practical solutions for everyday applications. Importantly, the Specification also accounts for both pneumatic and solid wheeled slow moving vehicles.

There are a number of significant changes over previous versions, in particular:-

· The Scope is now up to 1 m clear opening, so as not to compete with BS 9124.

· Many additional safety features are included or uprated such as fall protection, frame fixings, lifting points, safety stays and lift assistance.

· There are revised load test procedures and additional test processes for airtightness and water tightness.

· Marking requirements have been revised to help prevent unscrupulous use of the FACTA Mark and provide clear evidence of conformity to specifiers and end users.

The FACTA Specification establishes definitions, classes, materials and performance criteria for fabricated covers used in a wide variety of applications from light duty, pedestrian areas to heavy industrial, docksides and airports.

FACTA Chairman Peter Jennings, of ACO Building Drainage, congratulated FACTA’s technical committee on producing the new Specification explaining, “The earlier versions of the FACTA Specification have been highly successful but it was important that it was brought up-to-date to reflect changes within the market place”.

The new FACTA Specification is available for download from the FACTA website at: www.facta.org.uk

The following companies are already members of FACTA:

ACO Building Drainage, Aquacast (Fabrications) Ltd, Canal Engineering Ltd, Clark-Drain Ltd, Durey Castings Ltd, Fabweld Steel Products Ltd, Galco Steel Ltd, Kent Stainless (Wexford) Ltd, Preformed Markings Ltd, R&B UK JT Limited, Peter Savage Ltd, Steelway Brickhouse, Surespan Limited and FSP Wrekin Welding & Fabrication Engineering Ltd.

Further information on the Association and its members can be obtained by contacting FACTA on 01827 52337 or visiting its website at: www.facta.org.uk