A major Scottish Water Undertaker contacted us regarding a tender which had been issued for the purchase of a large quantity of gate valves. This tender was for valves required for the mains service pipework throughout the authority.The tender specified that these valves should meet the requirements of BS 5163. "Valves for waterworks purposes. Predominantly key/operated cast iron gate valves. Code of practice."The tender was allocated an a competitive bid basis to an importer of water fittings. The Water Undertaker had reason to believe that these valves did not meet their tender specification. We were required to examine a number of these valves and compare the design and the materials of construction including the internal and external coatings against the specifications of BS 5163.We were able to complete this work and our report concluded that the valves did not meet the tender specification due to failures in their design.