Roof battens - BS 5534?

I ordered some roof battens ('tile batten' on the invoice) from a timber merchant and they don't appear to be BS 5534. Is BS 5534 required for my pitched roof (it's a new extension)? Should I expect a refund? They are stamped with BS 8417, but not coloured blue/red.

BS 5534 is the required British Standard and BS 8417 only refers to the treatment of the batten. This is from the following...

"First and foremost, a BS-graded batten must have the number of the Standard marked on it, and that number (sorry to labour the point) is “BS 5534” and not any other BS number. We commonly see ungraded battens sporting the initials “BS 8417”, but that is nothing at all to do with the battens having been graded. BS 8417 actually only covers the timber’s treatment with wood preservatives and, in the case of battens, that needs to be something which is suitable for roofs; which is known in the jargon as “Use Class 2”. However, if the only BS number that you can see stamped onto a batten says something like “BS 8417: UC2” then that batten has definitely not been fully graded and so obviously it is not a “BS Batten”. It may have been treated to some extent against rot, but nothing else will have been done to it, to make it into a “proper” batten that can be used anywhere.

If it's treated its OK.

Pick some up at the end give them a shake, if they don't break or kink they are OK. You're looking for large diameter knots.

If you have asked for BS 5534 and not got them then you are entitled to a refund of the price difference so worth asking them.

Peter500 said:

I ordered some roof battens ('tile batten' on the invoice) from a timber merchant and they don't appear to be BS 5534. Is BS 5534 required for my pitched roof (it's a new extension)? Should I expect a refund? They are stamped with BS 8417, but not coloured blue/red.

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Colours mean nothing
I have to admit we usually opt for brash red or super yellow .. personal preference only

DAZB said:

If you have asked for BS 5534 and not got them then you are entitled to a refund of the price difference so worth asking them.

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It's quite a difficult one as I didn't explicitly mention the BS, I just assumed that they would all be BS 5534. My understanding is that if I asked for 'roofing battens' then they should have been BS 5534, but it's hard to remember (and even harder to prove) exactly what I said.

I doubt you will have any issue with the Building inspector etc as they will do the job perfectly well. One thing they will want though is the correcrt size as they do come in certain sizes, such as 32mm x 19mm, 38mm x 25mm and 50mm x 25mm which all depends on the spacing of your rafters so have a look at your drawing details.

Who phones up the merchants and asks for "BS 5534" battens as opposed to "tile battens"?

And if you find a building inspector that checks tile battens, then you should buy a lottery ticket that same day.