VSB documentation
The manufacturer supplies a documentation set with the barrier, and the tested barrier must conform to that set. A site installation that differs from the tested configuration is outside the rating.
Basis. The public preview stops before this clause; the page states the published structure and the public guidance. The clause number and defined terms are the standard's; the explanation is our own.
What clause 5 asks
Clause 5 has two parts. The general part requires the VSB to be accompanied by documentation. The conformity part requires the VSB that was tested to conform to that documentation. The public preview shows the headings and the page numbers but not the full list of documents. What the structure proves is that the rating is not a property of a brand name. It is a property of a described article: its geometry, its materials, its foundation, its fixings and the way it is installed.
Why it matters
This is the clause that decides whether a rating can be used on a real site. A manufacturer may test a bollard on a proprietary foundation and sell the same bollard for a surface-placed installation. The bollard looks identical and the rating does not follow it. The same risk applies to a changed fixing, a different concrete strength, a new paint system that changes the surface, or a foundation poured deeper on site than in the test. The documentation set is the bridge between the test and the installation, and conformity is the condition for crossing it.
What good looks like
Obtain the controlled documentation set for the exact product and configuration. Compare it with the site drawing and the installation record. Record any difference and ask the manufacturer or test house whether the rating still applies. Keep the revision of the documentation that was current at the test, not only the current sales brochure.
Evidence an assessor asks for
The reviewer will put the site drawing beside the tested drawing. A difference in foundation, fixing or geometry is the most common reason a valid test cannot be used.
- Controlled drawing set The product and foundation drawings, with revision numbers and dates, that were submitted to the test house
- Conformity statement The manufacturer statement that the tested article conforms to the documentation set
- Site comparison A signed comparison of the installed barrier and foundation against the tested drawings
- Change log Every change since the test, with the manufacturer or test house view on its effect on the rating
Where it commonly fails
- The sales brochure is treated as the documentation set, although it omits the foundation
- The site foundation is deeper or wider than the tested one and no one has assessed the effect
- A new fixing or anchor is used without a test-house statement
- The documentation set is undated, so no one can tell which revision was tested
What to do before the amendment publishes
Request the tested drawing set by revision and put it beside the as-built drawing. Resolve every difference in writing before the barrier is accepted.
Read across
- 1 Scope
- 6.4 VSB preparation
- 8 Product information
- B Example product and foundation drawings
- C Determination of post-impact access