Coppers and Copper Alloys Designations and Standards (UK)
The material designations and standards that relate to the manufacture and production of coppers and copper alloys within the UK and Europe are designed, maintained and published by a number of bodies: British Standards Institute (BSI), European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). BSI is a member of CEN, and European Standards developed by CEN are published by BSI in the UK as BS EN.
BS EN for coppers and copper alloys have been developed to meet the needs of industry and they cover the most commonly available alloys within Europe. There are around 200 coppers and copper alloys within these standards and information on individual materials can be found in this section of the website.
See Understanding the Copper Alloy BS EN Material Designation
The other standards commonly utilised in the UK are the Aerospace series, published by BSI, (BS B) and the Ministry of Defence Naval standards (Def Stan). The materials specified in these standards have more exacting requirements and have been developed for applications where strength and corrosion requirements can be more critical than those of the BS EN materials.
The tables in this section show the most commonly available BS EN coppers and copper alloys, their compositions, typical properties and uses, and applicable standards. It also provides details of the BS B and Def Stan and the copper-based materials approved for contact with drinking water.
For complete information on any material, the appropriate standard should be consulted.
Information Tables Index
| Item | Detail | Date |
| BS EN and Other Standards for Copper and Copper Alloys | ||
| BS EN and BS standards comparison | BS EN and BS standards comparison for copper and copper alloys | Mar 2019 |
| British Standards aerospace series | BS aerospace series | Mar 2019 |
| Def Stan—Defence Standards | Def Stan | Mar 2019 |
| Test methods | Test methods for copper and copper alloys | Mar 2019 |
| Alloys for Specific Purposes | ||
| Copper and copper alloys in contact with drinking water | 4MS approved copper and copper alloys | Mar 2019 |
| BS EN Material Designations for Copper and Copper Alloys | ||
| Wrought and unwrought coppers | BS EN material designations and old BS equivalents | Mar 2019 |
| Wrought copper alloys | BS EN material designations and old BS equivalents | Mar 2019 |
| Copper and copper alloy ingots and castings | BS EN 1982 and comparison with BS1400 | Mar 2019 |
| Compositions, Properties, Standards and Uses for Copper and Copper Alloys | ||
| Wrought and unwrought coppers | Compositions, properties and uses | Mar 2019 |
| Wrought and unwrought coppers | Standards | Mar 2019 |
| Copper and copper alloy ingots and castings (BS EN 1982) | Compositions, properties, processes and uses | Mar 2019 |
| Wrought low-alloyed copper alloys | Compositions, properties, standards and uses | Apr 2019 |
| Wrought copper-aluminium, copper-nickel and copper-nickel-zinc alloys | Compositions, properties, standards and uses | Apr 2019 |
| Wrought copper-zinc and copper-tin binary alloys | Compositions, properties, standards and uses | Apr 2019 |
| Wrought copper-zinc-lead alloys (leaded brasses) | Compositions, properties, standards and uses | Apr 2019 |
| Wrought, complex, copper-zinc alloys (special brasses) | Compositions, properties, standards and uses | Apr 2019 |
| Compositions, Properties, Standards and Uses for Brass Semi-finished Products | ||
| Brass rods and sections (BS EN 12163, 12164, 12167, 12168) | Compositions, properties and standards | Apr 2019 |
| Brass forgings, stampings and hot pressings (BS EN 12420, 12165) | Compositions, properties and standards | Table 15 |
| Brass sheet, strip and plate (BS EN 1652, 1653, 1654, 1172) | Compositions, properties and standards | May 2019 |
| Brass tubes (BS EN 12449, 12451, 12452) | Compositions, properties and standards | Apr 2019 |
| Brass wire (BS EN 12166) | Compositions, properties and standards | Table 18 |