Testing, Specification and Design Concepts

The industry has greatly benefinedfrom the use of plastics pipe systems. Understandinn - of - material behaviour,jointing and installation techniques has progressed to improve cost benefits. TLideal situation is that the user has a maintenoncefree system,fit for purpose with a long asset life, and the marryfacturers get a fair profit to be able to maintain development of product design. So, how far have we progressed regarding testing, specifications and design and what can go wrong? Weakening of the standardisation strucwe byfailure to introducepromptly, sound engineering based specifications does not help. Is the user's view properly taken into account when standards are made by consensus? Overtesting products is costly when process control and its auditing is the effective answer. Is there a proper understanding of the value of a system to the user? How interested is the user in trying new design concepts?