According to Sustainable Event Certification (SEC), the organisation that provides training, advice and certification to BS8901, many of the ambiguities within the original version have been cleared up, and some of the confusing clauses, such as assessing options for improved event sustainability, removed.  

In addition, the guidance notes that were dotted throughout the standard have been moved to a set of annexes at the back of the document, and the requirement for organisations to construct their own maturity matrix has been taken out.  

"We have been working with a large number of organisations from across the industry over the past 12 months, some of which have achieved certification to BS8901," said SEC managing director Tim Sunderland.

"However, we found the standard quite difficult to work with and consequently a number of modifications have been made to make it clearer and easier to understand."

A number of organisers, venues and suppliers have taken up the standard since it was issued in November 2007, and, most recently, the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games announced that it expects its suppliers to be working towards implementation of BS8901.

The new version is accessible online until the end of May. In addition, the SEC is offering free BS8901 certification checks to help organisations determine how they currently compare against the standard.

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