Pipeline Marking

There are legislation requirements regarding the marking of pipe work in the UK, EU and other countries, there are also standards standardising the colour schemes used when marking pipes. These are the British Standard (BS 1710) and the European Standard (RAL), our tapes are designed to mark up pipes in accordance with these regulations and standards.

Pipes should be assessed as part of a health and safety assessment in accordance with The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 and The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Pipes containing dangerous substances must be marked in order to comply with the Health & Safety (Safety Signs & Signals) Regulations 1996, these regulations govern the shape, colour, & pattern of signs for pipe marking. In accordance with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Heal Regulations 2002 pipes must be marked with what substance is contained with in the pipe, the direction of flow, and the pressure it is under. In addition to these EC Directive 92/58/EEC requires that all visible pipes conveying dangerous substances be labelled with a symbol or pictogram against a coloured background.

Pipeline marking should be applied every 7-14m of pipe work, at any change of direction of the pipe, where the pipe passes through floors and walls and close to any valves.

• Indoor pipe identification tape for use in covered areas.
• Outdoor pipe identification tape for use in all weather and extreme conditions.
• We hold all our tapes in stock.
• Largest stock in the UK.
• Any custom tapes can be ordered, these include: Custom spec., Custom print, Custom perforations... Anything is possible!

ISO and British Standards

1) Summary of BS 1710: 2014 - Primarily land-based pipe installations

BS 1710 specifies the colours and other information that should be used to identify pipes, ducts and electrical conduits.

The last standard was issued In 1984. Over the next 30 years, changes were needed for the coding system, partly for the water supply industry where alternative water reuse systems are now more popular – and alterations can lead to contaminated drinking water if pipe content is not properly labelled.

BSI revised the standard, which was available from Jan 2015. Among other things, the new version:

• Refines the labelling system to aid identification.
• Simplifies identification in building and water systems.
• Introduces a new three-size methodology to accommodate the full range of fluids.
• Services
• Removes ship systems, which are now covered in BS ISO 14726.

BS 1710:2014 offers legal support for those who install and use plumbing systems to prevent cross contamination.

Elsewhere, the new standard is of interest to building designers, operators, users and service installers, and other associated industries and activities including waste, water, liquid fuels, gases, and refrigeration.

2) Summary of ISO 14726: 2008 Primarily marine-based pipe installations (Reviewed and confirmed in 2017):

• It specifies the main and additional colours for identifying piping systems in accordance with the content or function on board ships and marine structures.
• These same colours can also be used for piping systems on drawings and diagrams.
• The system can also be used for land installations. ISO 14726:2008 does not apply to piping systems for medical gases, industrial gases and cargo.

Sources:
BSI Group - BS 1710:2014
ISO - ISO 14726:2008

Tape Specifications

Standard/Indoor Pipeline ID Tape Specification

White rigid PVC coated one side with a transparent resin rubber adhesive laminated with a 30 micron transparent polypropylene laminate for enviromental protection. Recommended for internal use only. Stock widths are 48mm, 196mm or 144mm, all in 33m length. Other widths and lengths are possible but we would not recommend rolls longer than 50m for convenience of handling. All our tapes conform to current British or RAL standards.

Base - Rigid PVC white film
Thickness: 0.060mm
Adhesion: 700g/24mm
Tensile strength: 11kg/24mm
Elongation: 40%
Temperature: -40°C to +70°C

Laminate - Transparent Polypropylene
Thickness: 0.050mm
Adhesion: 1050g/24mm
Tensile Strength: 11kg/24mm
Elongation: 100%
 

All Weather/Outdoor Pipeline ID Tape Specification

Campbell all weather external pipeline identification tapes are produced from high specification polyester substrate and laminate to give long term resistance to all chemical conditions and hostile environments. They demonstrate excellent ultra-violet resistance which preserves the colour fastness of the inks which themselves have a very high UV tolerance. Our all weather pipeline identification tapes also have an extremely low chloride content which makes them suitable for use on all pipe surfaces including that of stainless steel. Leachable chloride less than 10 parts per million. Stock widths are usually 50mm, 100mm or 150mm with a length of 23m.

Base - White Polyester -- Laminate - Linerless Transparent Polyester (Excellent UV protection)
Adhesive: Acrylic High Tack
Temperature Range: -40°C to +150°C

Chemical Resistance
30W Oil -- 24 hours - No edge penetration
Petrol -- 24 hours - 1.65"
Detergent -- 24 hours - No edge penetration
Sulphuric acid 10% -- 24 hours - No edge penetration
Bleach 20% -- 24 hours - No edge penetration
Ethylene Glycol -- 24 hours - No edge penetration
100% Humidity 100°F -- 168 hours - No edge penetration
Excellent water and UV resistance.

Safety Regulations and Signage (Including fire signage) - Law in the UK Workplace 

In response to customer needs and queries, Campbell International has prepared these headlines about the development of fire safety regulation and the related standards for signage in the UK.  

UK Fire Safety Regulation (as applied to non-residential premises)

The complexity caused by approximately seventy pieces of older legislation, of which safety signage regulation was just one part of all of these, was rationalised in the UK from 2005 onwards by:

• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 England and Wales

• The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006

• Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) - introduced in 2010

UK and European Standards on Safety Signage

At the time of the above regulation, standards on safety signage were covered by:

• BS 5499: For many years, this was the “go to” regulation for safety signage in the UK, including signs for fire safety.  

• EEC Safety Signs Directive 92/58/EEC: This was the equivalent but separate EU legislation 

• Health and Safety (Signs & Signals) Regulations 1996 Part 3: Referred to as The Regulations, they formed the UK’s own implementation of the above EEC (as was) directive.

The Regulations required all employers to describe how pipes conveying dangerous or hazardous substances should be identified. Pipes are to carry the relevant danger symbol and the name of the hazardous or dangerous substance being conveyed.  

In general, the UK’s BS 5499 was fully compatible with The Regulations, however the confusion about their two different fire exit signs meant that these standards continued to live in parallel for some years.  Only the later UK adoption of the harmonised BS EN ISO 7010 from 2013 (see below) meant that BS 5499 was finally redundant and the dispute over exit signage was at an end.    

Harmonisation: BS EN ISO 7010: 2013 and ISO 3864.

Today, EN ISO 7010 is the international standard for consistent safety sign regulation across Europe.  Its EN form was adopted in 2013 by the UK as BS EN ISO 7010.

“ISO 7010:2011 prescribes safety signs for the purposes of accident prevention, fire protection, health hazard information and emergency evacuation. The shape and colour of each safety sign are according to ISO 3864-1 and the design of the graphical symbols is according to ISO 3864-3.”

From: The International Organisation for Standardisation (http://www.iso.org)

ISO 3864 relates to ISO 7010 for:

• Safety identification colours

• Design principles about safety signs and safety marking

• The workplace and in public areas in support of accident prevention, fire protection, health hazard information and emergency evacuation.

Today, Campbells are here, ready to assist with all your compliance requirements in respect of safety signage. 

We don't mind what you call it; Pipeline ID Tape, Pipeline Marking Tape, Pipe Marker Tape, Pipe Marking Tape, Pipeline Marker Tape, Pipe Marker Tape, Pipe Labelling, Pipeline Labelling, Pipeline Labelling Tape, Pipeline Label Tape, Pipe Label, Pipe Labels, Pipeline Label, Pipeline Labels... We just care about quality, standards compliant tape!