BS 1873 Check Valves
What BS 1873 requires for check valves — applicability, key and testing requirements, the alternative standards, and compliant supply with full certification.
What does BS 1873 require for check valves?
BS 1873 (Steel Globe and Globe Stop and Check Valves (Flanged and Butt-Welding Ends) for the Petroleum, Petrochemical and Allied Industries, British Standards Institution (BSI)) sets the design, material and testing requirements for check valves in its scope. BS 1873 is the British Standard for steel globe valves and globe stop-and-check valves with flanged and butt-welding ends, covering petroleum, petrochemical, and allied industries. It is the UK/European counterpart to API 623 and specifies design, material, dimensional, testing, and marking requirements for globe valves intended for process plant service, including North Sea offshore platforms and UK refineries. BS 1873 globe stop-and-check valves are particularly valued for steam turbine bypass and boiler feed service where flow direction reversal can occur.
Applicable Pressure Classes
Key Requirements
- Body and bonnet pressure ratings per ASME B16.34 P-T tables for the material
- OS&Y (outside screw and yoke) rising stem standard for all sizes NPS 2" and above
- Globe stop-and-check variant: disc guided to prevent disc spin; able to function as check valve when handwheel is released
- Trim materials: Stellite-faced disc and seat ring for high-pressure-drop and erosive service
- Backseat provision standard in BS 1873 for in-service packing maintenance
- Fire-tested variants available per BS 6755 Part 2 / ISO 10497
- Bolted bonnet with full-face or spiral-wound gasket per service temperature class
- PMI (positive material identification) of body and bonnet castings
Testing Requirements
- Shell test: 1.5× rated pressure, minimum 15 minutes, zero leakage
- Seat leakage test: 1.1× rated pressure, acceptance per API 598 or ISO 5208
- Backseat test: 1.1× rated pressure when backseat is provided
Alternative Standards for Check Valves
Other standards that also govern check valves — useful for spec cross-acceptance.
Connected Engineering
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