PR3 – ACR announces publication of the revised Red Book [3rd edition]

Revised edition of the Test for Non-Fragility of Roofing Assemblies

The Advisory Committee for Roofwork (ACR) are pleased to announce the issue of the third edition of ACR (M) 001:2005 Test For Non-Fragility of Profiled Sheeted Roofing Assemblies (the Red Book )

The document describes a means of testing a roof assembly to establish if the assembly is deemed to be non-fragile under the requirements of the Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM).

This third edition has been published to clarify the qualifications required of the “competent person”  who is to carry out the test. The competent person must have an understanding of the test procedure and test data collected but more importantly must understand the nature and qualities of the materials being tested in order to determine worst case scenarios for that material and how it is to be fixed.

We have also taken this opportunity to include an annex on the work done by the HSE to determine load forces created when people trip and fall on to a roof surface.  From this analysis, the HSE were able to describe the impact resistance necessary to ensure that the roof could be deemed to be non-fragile and from this we were able to determine a repeatable test that would replicate the human load forces.  This publication describes that test.

The Test has been available to the roofing industry since the late 90s and is now fully accepted by all roofing product manufacturers and roofing contractors as the means to provide a non-fragile roofing assembly. The test is fully accepted by the HSE as the quantifiable means to show non-fragility in roofing design.

The Red Book can be obtained by downloading from the ACR website www.roofworkadvice.info , free of charge, or from any of the ACR participating member associations.

ACR was set up in 1998 to improve roof safety for the construction and building maintenance industry.  Its members are the experts from the Associated Bodies that are involved in the manufacture, supply and construction of all roofing materials, together with Technical Officers of the HSE who also provide the Secretariat. ACR documents are written by the roofing industry for the roofing industry and  are recognised by the HSE as the Industry Standard.

Chris Pearce

Chairman of ACR