Supporters of the Eurocodes believe that pan-European adoption of a uniform set of design codes offers a number of benefits. One of these is increased competition. By making it easier for companies to bid on work in a number of countries, the Eurocodes will help increase market opportunities. The codes will also enable the use of common design methods and tools for a wide variety of projects.

Even though the Eurocodes were designed to be used in Europe, other countries around the world are evaluating their adoption, including Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Russia and several North African countries. Adoption by countries outside Europe will benefit the European construction community by making it easier for them to compete in these markets.

In some countries, the Eurocodes represent a radical departure from the way most structural engineers are used to designing projects. "For many this is a completely different way of managing design and the design process, so it's going to require quite a bit of adaptation and changes in ways of working," says Stafford Napier, a consultant and the former managing director of the IHS UK engineering group.

To help companies adapt, many organizations representing different materials used in the construction industry, such as concrete, steel and timber, are concentrating on educating their members. "A big focus for industry is the retraining of people who do structural design," Napier says.

Training is not the only hurdle companies must overcome when using the Eurocodes. They also will need access to the nationally determined parameters (NDPs) of each country in which they will be working.

Unlike the design methods used in the text of the Eurocodes, which will remain the same in every country in which they are adopted, the NDPs reflect each country's specific design requirements. They were developed not only to incorporate specific climate and geological conditions, but also to enable each country to establish its own requirements for factors such as material safety. Information about the NDPs is provided in a National Annex that is available with each country's version of the Eurocodes. The National Annexes may also include reference to non-conflicting complimentary information (NCCI) such as associated national standards and guidance material from sector organizations.

Many who believe the NDPs diminish the impact of having one set of codes for the European construction industry are pushing to eliminate the NDPs. "There is a determined effort underway to reduce-if not remove-the differences in the NDPs," Napier says. But achieving this goal could take several years.

The Eurocodes will be distributed by each country's national standards organization. IHS will offer the United Kingdom's and Germany's version of the Eurocodes. For more information, visit http://engineers.ihs.com/collections/bsi/866.htm