What is this standard about?
This is one in a series of standards that deals with the installation of wall and floor tiling. This part provides recommendation on the design and installation of external ceramic, natural stone and mosaic wall tiles in normal climatic conditions.
Who is this standard for?
It provides guidance for specifiers, designers and installers. It should also be used by all the people involved in the tiling process, such as:
- Architects
- Designers
- Main contractors
- Specialist sub-contractors
- Customers
Why should you use this standard?
It includes, for the first time, guidance on the use of natural stone products not available in any other standard. It also deals with types of backgrounds and their suitability to receive tiling using the following fixing methods:
- Bedding in cementitious or reaction resin adhesives on an intermediate substrate or as a direct bedding method
- Bedding mosaics in cement and sand mortar on rendering or as a direct bedding method on appropriate backgrounds
What’s changed since the last update?
This part of BS 5385 is a full revision. It now includes natural stone tiling requirements. Natural stone has been used as external tiling for a very long time but until now there has been no guidance. As a result the industry has seen an increasing number of failures of both the stone tiles selected and the method of construction. The use of this standard should reduce the number of failures.
This update also introduces other major changes:
- Expanded cement and sand mortar information
- Restrictions on mesh-backed mosaics above 3m
- Repairs in existing buildings is now included