Standards Library · 07
BS 6399
Withdrawn, and why it still appears
The pre-Eurocode British Standard for loading. BS 6399-2:1997 was withdrawn in 2010 and is no longer a valid reference standard, yet it still turns up in structural reports issued today.
What it is
BS 6399 was the British Standard series for loadings on buildings, superseded by the Eurocodes. Part 2, wind loads, was withdrawn in 2010.
Withdrawal is not a matter of preference. A withdrawn standard has no current status, and citing one does not demonstrate compliance with anything.
Why it matters for rooftop solar
The conventions in BS 6399 are not directly comparable to the Eurocode conventions. A report that quotes both in parallel introduces ambiguity into the calculation chain rather than reassurance.
Lender technical advisers increasingly check the standards cited, and a withdrawn standard reads as a procedural defect. It can hold up a funding decision on an otherwise sound scheme.
If you are handed a structural report for a solar scheme and it cites BS 6399, the answer is incomplete. It should go back to the issuer for revision rather than into the project file.