What is PD 6689 about?
PD 6689 is an important maintenance document that advises public bodies on necessary road network end-performance categories
PD 6689 provides guidance on the use of BS EN 12271 and BS EN 12273 to specify products for Local Roads and for the Highways England Strategic Road Network (SRN).
Note : PD 6689 does not apply to the following:
- “Surface dressing works” designed by the purchaser i.e. surface dressing recipe specification for which the producer is instructed as to the rates of spread, chipping size, etc., and therefore is not responsible for performance requirements
- Surface treatments in tunnels where fire regulations apply
- Small areas under 500 m2 which are not contiguous, such as patch repairs
- Airfield pavements covered by international regulations (e.g. International Civil Aviation
- Organization regulations)
- Cold-applied ultra-thin surfacings (CAUTS)
Note: BS EN 12271 specifies the properties of surface dressing and BS EN 12273 specifies the properties of the slurry surfacing, including micro-surfacing.
Who is PD 6689 for?
PD 6689 on surface treatments is useful for:
- Specifiers
- Designers
- Contractors
- Material suppliers
- Consultants
- Test houses
- UK highway authorities and their supply chain partners
- Local Government Technical Advisors
- Highway engineers
- Airport operators
Why should you use PD 6689?
Public bodies must give priority to buying road surface dressing and slurry surfacing products with a CE mark and Declaration of Performance. PD 6689 gives UK guidance on using the two European standards which specify the necessary performance requirements and installation control procedures for such products.
PD 6689 guidance:
- Enables appropriate products to be provided to suit environmental conditions
- Helps ensure expected service life (durability) is achieved, thereby satisfying health and safety requirements and making the whole-life asset management process more efficient
- Provides a template to help local authorities specify products that harmonize sometimes conflicting requirements and prevent over-specification (minimizing the use of scarce/expensive resources)
- Helps highway authorities specify the level of end-performance required for different road classes – the BS EN standards only prescribe different performance categories. They do not advise what level of performance is required for a particular end-use
PD 6689 can also help anyone involved in specifying or delivering UK road surfaces or other trafficked areas to choose products that suit environmental conditions and achieve safer and more durable results that are not over-specified.
