Withdrawal of structural design standards (British Standards)

The promised circular letter to local authorities, Informing Building Control Bodies about the withdrawal of structural design standards (British Standards) and updating Approved Documents A and C was published yesterday on the DCLG website. The letter includes the following:  

What this means for building control bodies (BCBs) When assessing compliance with the Building Regulations, BCBs should continue to consider the appropriate use of relevant standards on a case by case basis. This may include the use of the new BS ENs, which formally become the new national standards in April 2010 reflecting the changes made by the standards organisations. There is no need to wait until April 2010. The British Standards to be withdrawn on 31 March are and will remain available from BSI. But BSI committees have already stopped updating those British Standards, and so they may not necessarily be suitable for aspects of structural design in the medium and long term. BCBs will need to be aware of the risk of designs inappropriately mixing new design standards based on the BS ENs and withdrawn BS design standards. The full text may be viewed by visiting:

www.communities.gov.uk