Library Guides: Library Skills: British Standards user guide

British Standards

British Standards Online This link opens in a new window Access to a select number of British/European/International standards online. The Library also has access to additional British Standards via the Construction Information Service. If a standard you require is not available via BSOL, please contact your Information Specialist. URL: http://bsol.bsigroup.com
Construction Information Service This link opens in a new window A comprehensive source of technical information for the construction industry, containing full text regulatory and advisory documents, including construction related British Standards, Eurocodes and building regulations. Choose 'Construction Information Service' from the menu of options: please note we do not have access to the other options

British Standards Online guidance

Where to find British Standards

We have access to collections of British/European/International standards via the British Standards Online platform (BSOL).

The Library also has access to additional civil engineering, building and construction related British Standards via the Construction Information Service.

If a standard you require is not available via BSOL, please contact your Information Specialist or email: informationspecialists@plymouth.ac.uk

Downloading British Standards via BSOL

An additional layer of security has been applied by British Standards Institute (BSI) to the online standards requiring users to open .pdfs in BSOL via a security plug-in called FileOpen.

How do I install FileOpen?

Students and staff using a personal computer: Download and install the FileOpen plug-in from this webpage: https://plugin.fileopen.com/all.aspx
Staff using their university provided computer: Install FileOpen from the Software Center and then follow student fleet instructions
Students using a university computer: Software is already installed on all campus machines but you will need to do this additional step prior to attempting download:

Additional Adobe steps required each time using a University computer to access a standard - follow in this order:

Before you download a standard you will first need to sign-in to Adobe Creative Cloud in order for Adobe to check for plugins (FileOpen is a plugin).
You can do this by searching for Adobe Creative Cloud in the computer's start menu and following the instructions to input your university email address.
After signing in, open Adobe Acrobat and wait for 10 seconds which will load the FileOpen plugin.
Download your standard from the BSOL website; note the opening of the file instructions below

I have installed FileOpen but how do I open the .pdf?

Open the file from your 'Downloads' folder as opening from the browser will not work.

Other restrictions

You will not be able to email or share the .pdf with others (however you can send University colleagues the link to BSOL and they can download it for themselves)
You can only print the .pdf once
You should be able to open your saved .pdf on up to 3 devices.

Help and support with FileOpen

BSI have explained their rationale for this security layer and provided additional guidance: B SI FileOpen guidance

For any other problems with FileOpen installation, please log with the Service Desk: http://itselfservice.plymouth.ac.uk