The Institution of Engineers,

Malaysia


Universiti
Teknologi MARA


Universiti Malaya

12th International Conference on Concrete Engineering and Technology

12 14 August 2014

Implementation and Enforcement in Adopting Eurocode 2 For Concrete

Structures Design in Malaysia
Ir. Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Chiang Choong Luin
IEM Honorary Treasurer, Chairman, IEM Technical Committee on Earthquake, Dean, Faculty of Engineering &
Built Environment, SEGi University, Kota Damansara

1.0 Introduction
It was back in 2002, when The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) mooted the formation of the
IEM Position Paper Committee to draft a Position Paper entitled, Design Standards for Concrete
Structures in Local Construction Industry After 2006. At that time, UK had given an undertaking
that they will introduce Eurocodes as the structural design standards to replace the British Standards
in use then such as BS 8110 (for concrete structures) and BS 5950 (for steel structures), to name a
few.
The IEM Position Paper was published in 2004 which specified the need to adopt Eurocode EC2 (or
to be more precise EN1992:2002 as the basis to draft the Malaysian Standards National Annex.
Subsequent to that, with the approval of Standards Malaysia, IEM formed a Technical Committee on
Design Standards for Concrete Structures in Malaysia in 2006. After four years of hard work, the
Technical Committee on Concrete Design had produced six sets of MS EN standards for the local
construction industry, which are:
1. MS EN1990:2010 Eurocode : Basis of Structural Design
2. NA to MS EN1990:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode : Basis of Structural Design
3. MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Eurocode 1 : Actions on Structures Part 1-1 : General Actions
Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for Buildings
4. NA to MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode 1 : Actions on Structures
Part 1-1 : General Actions Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for Buildings
5. MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Design of Concrete Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules
and Rules for Building Structures
6. NA to MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Malaysia National Annex to Design of Concrete
Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules and Rules for Building Structures

UK has already withdrawn all British Standards relating to structural design since May 2010.
Singapore has also followed suit, but they are introducing a transition period of two years
commencing from April 2013, in which both British Standards and Eurocodes can co-exist for
application and submission for approval purposes by local authority.
The question now is what do the Malaysian authorities plan to do to introduce and implement the
adoption of Eurocodes in Malaysian construction industry. And how should The Institution of
Engineers play its role in providing the incentive and support to ensure that the transition from BS
codes to Eurocodes can be carried out in a smooth and systematic manner.
2.0 Significance of the issue at hand implementation of Eurocodes in Malaysia
At the moment, the decision-makers at the authorities are not aware of the seriousness in the
switchover of design standards for structural design from BS to Eurocodes. It all boils down to the
provisions in the Uniform Building By Laws (UBBL) in the which it currently still stipulates the use
of British Standards as the de facto approved standards for submission purposes.


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The custodian of the UBBL is the Ministry of Housing & Local Government, while the Local
Authority is the body that shall implement the policies or provisions therein.
The problems faced now by the practicing engineers are as follow:
x

x
x
x
x
x

The awareness of Eurocode is not in depth enough among practicing engineers and other
users of codes of practice in design of structures.
The uncertainty surrounding the implementation is still prevalent, especially with the lack of
decision and direction by authority and policy makers.
The custodian body is sending out mixed messages across to the stakeholders, especially with
regards to the approval or non-approval of the Uniform Building By Laws which stipulates
the list of approved standards to be adopted in local construction industry.
The people in charge at the top is not treating the issue of Eurocode switchover seriously
enough; the process is unclear and delays in responding to enquiry as to timing to set for the
switchover or whether there is a transitional period similar to other adopting countries.
Since there is a lack of directive from the top to the various Government agencies including
public universities, then the teaching and practice of Eurocode design standards to students
and graduates of engineering is not made mandatory.
The end results to date: some universities are teaching Eurocodes as part of their design
subject syllabus, hence resulting in graduates who are able to design according to Eurocodes
but are surprise to find that the industry is still sticking to BS codes of practice, not yet ready
in switching over to Eurocodes.
For the older and senior practicing engineers, there is no incentive to learn a new design
standards or codes of practice, because the learning process is tedious and time-consuming.
The middle-level engineers who are well-versed in BS codes have difficulty in the switchover
because the perception is it is going to be hard to learn a new design philosophy, and so far
many of these engineers have not been attending the many Eurocode EC2 courses organised
by IEM.

3.0 Background
It was back in 2002, when The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) mooted the formation of the
IEM Position Paper Committee to draft a Position Paper entitled, Design Standards for Concrete
Structures in Local Construction Industry After 2006. At that time, UK had given an undertaking
that they will introduce Eurocodes as the structural design standards to replace the British Standards
in use then such as BS 8110 (for concrete structures) and BS 5950 (for steel structures), to name a
few.
Since then, The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) has produced the following MS EN 199x
documents based on Eurocodes, which are published by Standards Malaysia or the Department of
Standards Malaysia (DSM):
x
x
x

MS EN1990:2010 Eurocode : Basis of Structural Design (RM120)

NA to MS EN1990:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode : Basis of Structural Design
(RM20)
MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Eurocode 1 : Actions on Structures Part 1-1 : General Actions
Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for Buildings (RM50)
NA to MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode 1 : Actions on Structures
Part 1-1 : General Actions Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for Buildings (RM20)
MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Design of Concrete Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules
and Rules for Building Structures (RM230)
NA to MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Malaysia National Annex to Design of Concrete
Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules and Rules for Building Structures (RM30)
MS EN1993-1-1:2010 Eurocode 3 : Design of Steel Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules and
Rules for Building Structures (RM100)


62

x
x

NA to MS EN1993-1-1:2010 Eurocode 3 : Malaysia National Annex to Design of Steel

Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules and Rules for Building Structures (RM20)
MS EN1997-1:2012 Eurocode 7 : Geotechnical Design Part 1 : General Rules (RM170)
NA to MS EN1997-1:2012 Eurocode 7 : Malaysia National Annex to Geotechnical Design
Part 1 : General Rules (RM30)

These are all available for purchase at Department of Standards Malaysia at their Main Headquarters
in Cyberjaya, or through online purchase.
4.0 Action Plans to Commence Implementation of Eurocodes
The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) has been very proactive in this matter of adopting the
appropriate codes of practices / standards in Malaysia for structural design, since from year 2000.
And IEM has also taken the initiative and actions in drafting the first few parts of the Eurocodes for
adoption in Malaysia as per the list given earlier. Other parties and agencies may have made claims
that they are involved or co-ordinators of Eurocodes drafting for Malaysia, but it is only IEM as the
recognised Standards Writing Organisation (SWO) which is the institution appointed by SIRIM and
then DSM to undertake this task for Malaysia.
Discussions were held with Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), the Public Works Department, and then also
with top officials from the Ministry of Works, on how to move forward and put in place a mechanism
for the adoption of the Eurocodes in place of British Standards in a very smooth, seamless and
transparent manner so that the practicing engineers in the industry can submit their designs for
authority approval without any problem.
What are the next steps in the implementation procedures?
The intention here is to institute a transition period which has been proposed at 3 years, after it has
been discussed and agreed upon by three parties, i.e. Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), The
Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM).
5.0 The Key Document The Uniform Building By Laws (UBBL)
It has to be highlighted that the construction engineering practices in Malaysia is largely governed by
the provisions in the Uniform Building By Laws (UBBL) which has its latest amendments being
approved in 2012. And the latest amendments in the UBBL include the replacement of British
Standards by Eurocodes being adopted as Malaysian Standards, named as MS EN standards,
particularly for those documents already prepared for concrete and steel design and others, as
stipulated above.
Therefore, in order for the construction industry and professional engineering practices related therein
to move forward, it is imperative that the Eurocodes have to be used eventually as the referenced
design standards for submission purposes.
The snag here is that not all of the local authorities have started to implement the revised UBBL, even
though Selangor State has officially adopted the revised UBBL. This has yet to be filtered down to
the local authorities level. There could be some reasons why the adoption is not implemented
immediately, such as:
x

It takes time and effort by the engineers and checkers in the local authorities to pick up the
intricacies of Eurocodes as opposed to the much more familiar British Standards
The documentation are not in place and it take time and financial resources to purchase the
necessary Eurocodes standards as reference materials
The local authorities had in mind to organise training sessions for its staff to be familiar and
able to use the Eurocodes as reference standards


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The local authorities have yet to receive official directive from the State Secretariat on the
mandatory use of the revised UBBL

At the moment, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is lamenting that they are not able to
enforce the revised UBBL 2012 to practicing engineers. This enforcement task is left to the local
authorities, and not just one, but all local authorities must start to enforce. Currently, in Selangor, the
State Secretariat has gazette the use of the revised UBBL 2012, even though there is still no printed
copy version. But the rest of the local authorities, for example, in Klang, Sabak Bernam or Petaling
Jaya have not started to enforce the revised UBBL 2012.
6.0 The Time Frame for Implementation
As highlighted in Section 4.0, the three parties concerned, BEM, IEM and ACEM have come together
and drafted a letter dated 5 June 2014 to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
(Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, KPKT) to inform the Ministry of the Joint Stand
taken by the three engineering bodies with regards to the adoption and implementation of MS EN
Eurocodes in Malaysia.
As mentioned earlier, the three engineering bodies have come to a consensus that a proposed 3-year
transitional period (or moratorium period) is a good way to tackle the implementation of Eurocodes,
as it will allow sufficient time for local practitioners to be familiar with the new standards. This is in
line with other countries which have adopted similar measures, for example, UK implemented a 2year transition period from 2008 to 2010, when they fully adopted the Eurocodes in May 2010.
Likewise, Singapore has also put in place a 2-year transition period from April 2013 which will end in
May 2015.
In the letter from BEM to KPKT, the suggestion of a 3-year transition period is to commence from 1
June 2014 and will end in 31 May 2017. This will enable adequate preparation and training of local
engineers and university engineering students on the use of Eurocodes in design courses, in time for
them to be ready by 2017.
Even the Ministry of Education can come out with a directive to all local public and private
universities, to conduct all design structural courses with references to Eurocodes, starting from say
2015. A 2-year period should be enough to fully implement this into the teaching of relevant courses
at university level. The teaching of design courses normally commences from Year 3 onwards in a
typical 4-year engineering programme, unless it is a 3-year UK-degree course which would then
have design courses taught from Year 2 onwards. That is when the use of MS EN Eurocode 2 will
have to be used in the teaching of design of concrete structures, in place of the withdrawn British
Standards BS8110.
The use of Eurocodes will be more prevalent when students go on to take their Final Year Projects
where the use of design standards will be emphasized, and also in integrated engineering design
where multi-disciplines are involved in the design of a typical project given to groups of students
most likely at Year 3.
Besides the education field, the IT software industry would also requires some time to institute and to
fine-tune the inclusion of Eurocodes as a design suite or package into their commercial software. In
the current scenario, most if not all software packages in the market nowadays have in place the
Eurocodes as a choice of design standard for users, in order to process their analysis and design steps
on using their commercial products.
Last but not least are the mindsets of the engineering graduates when they are being churned out from
universities into the industry. Eurocodes are here to stay, and if these graduates want to be
competitive not only in the local practice but internationally then, it is most definite for them to be
well-versed in the adoption and application of Eurocodes.
Figure 1 below shows a representation of a tentative timeline and milestone for Malaysia, in adopting
fully Eurocode as design standards in place of British Standards by 2017.



64

Figure 1 Proposed timeframe for 3-year transition period towards full adoption of Eurocode by 2017

7.0 Training Programs and Useful References on Eurocodes

The Institution of Engineers Malaysia, through the Civil & Structural Engineering Technical Division
has been actively organizing many seminars and courses since 2009 on Eurocodes especially on
Eurocode EC2 (Concrete Design). Of late, from 2008, IEM has also been organizing courses and
workshops on Eurocode EC8 (Design for Earthquake Resistance).
Some of the more recent training seminars / courses offered / conducted by IEM on Eurocode 2
includes the following:
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

17-18 October 2013, 2-Day Course on Simplified Unified Practical Design to MS EC0, MS EC1
& MS EC2 From a Consulting Engineers Perspective, by Ir MC Hee at Armada Hotel, PJ. (74
participants)
11 June 2012, 1-Day Pre CONCET 2012 Conference on Design of Concrete Structures to EN
1992, by Dr W M C Mckenzie, PICC, Putrajaya. (61 participants)
21 May 2010, 1-Day Seminar on Adapting Eurocodes EC0, EC1 snd EC2 in Malaysia by
various presenters, Dynasty Hotel, Miri, Sarawak. (36 participants)
10-12 March 2010. 3-Day Course on Practical Design to MS EC0, MS EC1, MS EC2 from a
Consulting Engineer's Perspective, by Ir MC Hee at Armada Hotel, PJ. (71 participants)
12 November 2009, 1-Day Seminar on Adopting Eurocodes EC0, EC1 snd EC2 in Malaysia by
various presenters at Puteri Pacific Hotel, Johor Baru (73 participants).
29 October 2009, 1-Day Seminar on Adopting Eurocodes EC0, EC1 snd EC2 in Malaysia by
various presenters at Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Penang (101 participants).
14 October 2009, 1-Day Seminar on Adopting Eurocodes EC0, EC1 snd EC2 in Malaysia by
various presenters at Armada Hotel, PJ (161 participants).
20 June 2009, Half-day Awareness Seminar on Eurocodes - EC0, EC1 and EC2 by Ir MC Hee
at UTAR Campus, PJ (101 particpants).

It has always been the policy of IEM to charge relatively low attendance fees for participants
registering for IEM organized courses, so as to maximize participation by stakeholders in the industry.
But as a professional members institution of learned society, IEM will give preference to its
members, be they students, graduates or corporate members.
Other than holding such public activities to generate publicity and knowledge of use of Eurocodes to
the profession, IEM has also stocked up its Library in its premises with many volumes of up-to-date
references and even software on the use and adoption of Eurocodes.
The only thing that is lacking now is the sales of the Malaysian Standards MS EN publications, since
Standards Malaysia do not have the policy to appoint an NGO like IEM to be their agent in the sales



65

of MS publications from IEM premises. Those who wish to purchase such MS EN publications have
to contact Standards Malaysia or SIRIM.
Even as this conference is being held, IEM is in the midst of planning and organizing a series of
awareness seminar campaign for 2014 all over the country in both the Peninsular West Coast region,
and across to Sabah and Sarawak too. This comes courtesy of the SMART Partnership Programme
between IEM and Standards Malaysia, in which a amount of RM100,000 was provided by Standards
Malaysia to IEM as a grant to promote the usage of MS EN publications. IEM will also explore the
possibility of bringing along some MS EN documents (with permission of Standards Malaysia) for
purchase by interested participants.
The following are some useful references on Eurocode 2:
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

Designers Guide to Eurocode 0: Basis of Structural Design, 2nd Edition (Designers Guides to
the Eurocodes), by Haig Gulvanessian et al, indicative price at USD121.34.
Designers Guide to EN 1992-1-1 and EN 1992-1-2: Design of Concrete Structures. General
rules and rules for buildings and structural fire design (Designers Guides to the Eurocodes),
by R.S. Narayanan et al, indicative price at USD105.37.
Manual for Detailing Reinforced Concrete Structures to EC2, by Jose Calavera, indicative
price at USD114.51.
Worked Examples for the Design of Concrete Structures to Eurocode 2, by Tony Threlfall,
indicative price at USD48.12.
Reinforced Concrete Design: To Eurocode 2, by W.H.Mosley & R.Hulse, indicative price at
USD47.07.
Concise Eurocode 2, published by The Concrete Centre, UK, priced at GBP45.
How to Design Concrete Structures to Eurocode 2 A Compendium, published by The
Concrete Centre, UK, priced at GBP45.
Properties of Concrete for use in Eurocode 2, published by The Concrete Centre, UK, priced
at GBP45.
Worked Examples to Eurocode 2: Volume 1, published by The Concrete Centre, UK, priced
at GBP45.

8.0 Hierarchy of Standards Adoption

It has to be noted that there are a total of 58 Parts of Eurocodes to be drafted in terms of National
Annex before being adopted as such into MS ENxxxx. So far, IEM has assisted Standards Malaysia
in developing 10 sets / parts of the Eurocodes, which are deemed to be essential for initial use in the
industry.
Hence, in terms of the hierarchy of standards to be adopted, in accordance to the Uniform Building By
Laws (UBBL), the Malaysian Standards should they be available shall take precedence over all the
other referenced standards, even the British Standards.
It has to be noted that there is a Malaysian Standards on Design of Concrete Structures, MS1195-1997
which is the replica of BS8110, but in the professional practices, all references were still made to
BS8110 and other BS codes.
Nevertheless, with the revised UBBL 2012, the Malaysian Standards in the form of MS EN199x
2010 shall take precedence where they have been developed and published.
But in the case of the Eurocode parts yet to be developed into NA to MS EN versions, it was decided
that the British equivalents, NA to BS EN versions shall prevail. In the event of situations where
neither MS EN or BS EN could provide guidance, then the original EN standards shall be referred to.
Under very special circumstances, especially in specialists areas not covered by the preceeding
standards, the users may refer to other accepted international standards available such as ISO, ACI,



66

AS, NZS, CNS, and so forth. This is up to the discretion of the design engineers, who shall take full
responsibility based on their knowledge and experience.
9.0 Suggested Approach in Adopting Eurocode 2
9.1 The use of hand calculations and design aids compared to computational software
As with all standards, their use has to be tempered with knowledge and wisdoms gained either from
study, training or experience of the design engineers. But, the use of hand calculations has to be
emphasized in order for the engineering graduates to fully understand the basic fundamentals, and not
just to rely on commercial software to generate outputs of design calculated results, graphic drawings
and even detailing of steel reinforcement.
It has come to a stage where the graduates nowadays are expected to know how to use the available
commercial software on their first day of work in the design office. Understanding the drawings and
specifications aside, their employers trained them in the use of the software to input data in generating
structural models based on the in-built standards of practice available therein, even Eurocodes. This
is the fallacy of the current industrial practice, where design engineers are to churn out pages and
pages of computed results and drawings on a fast pace basis, due to the shortening of time for design
and planning given by clients.
These are the challenges faced by fresh graduates on the first day on the job to satisfy the need of their
employers. The intricacies of Eurocodes newly introduced are not emphasized but are to be learnt as
they go along. In order to overcome such problems, engineers have to fall back on detailed hand
calculations to get a feel of how structures behave, especially on deflection and deformation going
hand in hand with expected loadings applied. The flowchart in Figure 2 shows how the Eurocode 2
can be used in a proper manner in accordance to flexural design of beam elements.


Figure 2 Flowchart for flexural design to Eurocode 2



67

All the courses and training conducted by IEM to date are led by very senior and experienced
practicing engineers from the industry. The emphasis is always on basic fundamentals and the use of
hand calculations perhaps hand in hand with design charts given in standards. The use of software is
mainly to check or to verify the results obtained.
At the university level, traditionally all design courses are done with minimal exposure to commercial
software. It is only of late, due to the pressure of the needs of industry, generic and even commercial
software are purchased for use by university students in their courses especially in projects and some
research work. Through these means, students are given an early exposure to commercial software in
design courses, and if not handled properly, they will be taught to rely heavily on the software to work
on their projects and assignments without the need to write out manual calculations. That is the
challenge and balance faced by university lecturers in giving the right dosage of computational
exposure, not at the early years of study but more towards the final years, when complex design
problems are to be tacked by students.
Figure 3 is a typical design chart developed by The Concrete Centre, UK, to assist designers in
selecting beam configurations for span/depth ratio.

Figure 3 Design chart for beam span/depth ratio to Eurocode 2

9.2 Basic fundamentals of concrete structures design to be maintained
Whatever standards practices are to be used, especially during the envisaged transitional period where
the Eurocodes and British Standards are to co-exist, the stress block model is still the basic
fundamental which has to be learnt by all students of structural engineering. Figure 4 below shows
the concrete stress block model used in Eurocode 2.


68

Figure 4 Concrete stress block model to Eurocode 2

Compared to the concrete stress block used in BS8110 (see Figure 5), they look quite similar except
for the ratio used to distinguish the depth of the compressive concrete block.

Figure 5 Concrete stress block model to BS8110

Eurocode 2 gives recommendations for the design of concrete up to Grade C90/105. Note that the
Grade C90 denotes cylinder strength of 90 MPa, as prescribed by Eurocode 2, whereas the
corresponding Grade C105 is the cube strength equivalent as per BS8110.
However, for concrete greater than Grade C50/60, the stress block is modified. It is important to note
that in Eurocode 2, concrete strength is based on the cylinder strength and not the cube strength (i.e.
for class C30/37 the cylinder strength (fck) is 30 MPa, whereas the cube strength is 37 MPa).
Though this concrete grade identification, the current cube strength used in the local practice can still
be maintained, to allow time for assimilation and adjustment by local designers, contractors and
material suppliers.
9.3 Intricacies of new standards to be highlighted compared to previous standards
What are the main changes we can envisage in Eurocode 2 compared to BS8110? The following are
some of the key differences design engineers will be seeing:
x
x
x
x

x
x

Eurocode 2 deals with the phenomenon, rather than elements types;

Design is based on characteristic cylinder strength, not on cube strength;
It allows high strength concrete, up to (C90/105);
Does not contain derived formulae (e.g. only the details of the stress block is given, not the
flexural design formulae);
Unit of stress is MPa, not N/mm2 as usual in UK standards;
Durability requirements are more explicit: cmin c,dev;



69

x
x
x
x

Plain or mild steel not covered;

Notional horizontal loads considered in addition to lateral loads;
Load combinations are given in EN 1990, a separate Eurocode document;
Eurospeak (verify, actions, imperfections) and subscripts, just to identify a few notable
changes.

The Concrete Centre, UK in its online website, has put up information to educate and to update on
various issues relating to adopting Eurocode 2. The following are some of the listed Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) with answers / responses given:
1. What are the new Eurocode equivalents of BS8110-1, BS8110-2, BS8007 (Code of practice for
design of concrete structures for retaining aqueous liquids), BS5400 (Steel, Concrete & Composite
Bridge Design), BS8102 (Code of Practice for Protection of Below Ground Structures Against Water
from the Ground), CIRIA 139?
BS EN 1992-1-1 and BS EN 1992-1-2 replace BS8110-1, BS8110-2.
BS EN 1992-2 replaces BS 5400, but note that BS EN 1992-2 has to be used in conjunction with
BS EN 1992-1-1.
BS EN 1992-3 replaces BS 8007, but note that BS EN 1992-3 has to be used in conjunction with
BS EN 1992-1-1.
BS 8102 is not replaced by a Eurocode, but a new revision is currently being prepared.
CIRIA 139 is a guidance document to BS 8102 and will presumably be updated in line with BS
8102.
2. When will I have to change from using BS8110/BS5400 to using Eurocode 2?
BSI plans to withdraw BS 8110 and other structural concrete design codes on or about 31 March
2010. Withdrawn indicates that a standard is no longer current and has been superseded by another
standard or is no longer relevant to industry. It will also no longer be supported by a committee,
which means that it will not undergo a five-year review. The standard is not necessarily unsafe, but
will increasingly become outdated and therefore not current best practice.
For bridges, the major clients are public bodies and under European law they should require designers
to use Eurocodes from March 2010 for new contracts. For buildings there is no obligation to use
Eurocode 2 from this date as the building regulations only require that the designer shows that design
is safe; there is no obligation to use a particular Code of Practice. Clients (particularly those which a
Public Bodies) or a designers insurers may require the latest Codes of Practice to be used this will be
a driver to change over to Eurocodes.
5. What is the relationship between cylinder strength and cube strength? And is it the same
for lightweight concrete?
There is no single expression linking cylinder strengths to cube strengths in Eurocode 2, but
they are given in Table 3.1 of BS EN 1992-1-1 for normal weight concrete.. For lightweight
concrete the information is given in Table 11.3.1 and roughly speaking the cylinder strength
is 90% of the cube strength.
6. What angle of the concrete strut should I take in assessing the shear strength to Eurocode
2 as it is not set at 45 degrees?
The concrete strut can be varied between 21.8 and 45. The shallower the angle the more efficient
the design. Generally, it will be found that a strut angle of 21.8 provides adequate strength and it is
therefore advised to assume this in the first instance. For short beams and transfer beams the strut
angle may need to be increase and the angle required can be calculated. Further guidance is given in
How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2, chapter 4, beams.



70

The above FAQs can be a good reference for users of Eurocode 2 to build up their own list of FAQs
to seek answers from IEM or from direct online communications with BSI. As a start, it would be a
good idea for the new users to acquire some of the listed references given above, and start to read up,
as companions to the actual MS EN codes readily available from the direct source at Standards
Malaysia.
9.4 Further work in completing MS EN1992 Eurocode 2
So far, IEM has completed only MS EN1992 Part 1-1, and there are three more parts that follow in
Eurocode 2 alone, as shown below for equivalent BS EN versions
Eurocode 2 has four parts:
x
x
x
x

BS EN 1992-1-1:2004 Design of concrete structures. General rules and rules for buildings
BS EN 1992-1-2:2004 Design of concrete structures. General rules. Structural fire design
BS EN 1992-2:2005 Design of concrete structures. Concrete bridges. Design and detailing
rules
BS EN 1992-3:2006 Design of concrete structures. Liquid retaining and containing structures

In the immediate future, IEM is planning and organizing two Technical Committees to draft MS
EN1992-1-2 (Structural fire design) and MS EN1992-2 (Concrete bridges design and detailing rules).

10.0 Conclusion
The IEM Position Paper was published in 2004 which specified the need to adopt Eurocode EC2 (or
to be more precise EN1992:2002 as the basis to draft the Malaysian Standards National Annex.
The intention is to institute a transition period which has been proposed at 3 years, after it has been
discussed and agreed upon by three parties, i.e. Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), The Institution
of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM). During
the 3-year transition period, both Eurocode 2 and BS8110 can co-exist and used as submission
standards. The proposed start of the transition is 1 June 2014 ending in 31 May 2017.
The Institution of Engineers Malaysia, through the Civil & Structural Engineering Technical Division
has been actively organizing many seminars and courses since 2009 on Eurocodes especially on
Eurocode EC2 (Concrete Design). And these activities will be continued intensively during the
transition period, in collaboration with Standards Malaysia.
All the measures to enable a smooth transition to Eurocode 2 have to be implemented so that the
practicing structural engineers can work within the required safety and economical needs of built
concrete structures.
There is still much work ahead to complete the task in developing all the remaining three parts of MS
EN1992 on concrete structures design, and this can be done if co-operation and understanding can be
sought from all relevant stakeholders in the construction industry.
REFERENCES
1. MS EN1990:2010 Eurocode : Basis of Structural Design.
2. NA to MS EN1990:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode : Basis of Structural
Design.
3. MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Eurocode 1 : Actions on Structures Part 1-1 : General Actions
Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for Buildings.



71

4. NA to MS EN1991-1-1:2010 Malaysia National Annex to Eurocode 1 : Actions on

Structures Part 1-1 : General Actions Densities, Self-weight, Imposed Loads for
Buildings.
5. MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Design of Concrete Structures Part 1-1 : General
Rules and Rules for Building Structures.
6. NA to MS EN1992-1-1:2010 Eurocode 2 : Malaysia National Annex to Design of Concrete
Structures Part 1-1 : General Rules and Rules for Building Structures.
7. Concise Eurocode 2, published by The Concrete Centre, UK.
8. How to Design Concrete Structures to Eurocode 2 A Compendium, published by The
Concrete Centre, UK.


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