Standards page · BIS and IRC
One page for the Indian documents that govern GFRP bars: the BIS product standards and the Indian Roads Congress guideline for road projects. Each is summarised separately, so the scope of each one stays clear.
Published by 7 Star IMPEX LLP · 18 October 2026 · A plain-language summary, not a substitute for the official texts. Read the published BIS and IRC documents before you specify.
For consultants, QA/QC teams and government departments. The BIS standards are about the bar itself. The IRC guideline is about where and how GFRP may be used on a road project.
Published by the Bureau of Indian Standards with the title “Solid Round Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Bars for Concrete Reinforcement — Specification”. It is the Indian product standard to name when you specify the bar.
The companion BIS standard on methods of test for FRP bars. 7 STAR’s website names it together with IS 18256:2023. Use it when you set up lot testing and acceptance.
“Guidelines on Use of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Bars in Road Projects (Part 1: Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Bars)”. The IRC Council approved it at its 222nd mid-term meeting in Shillong on 17–18 June 2022.
IRC:137-2022 takes loads and load combinations from IRC codes and MoRTH specifications. Members are designed to the AASHTO and ACI references it lists. Any other design standard needs prior approval from the project authority.
Section 2 of the guideline lists the concrete components of road projects that may use GFRP bars, subject to its provisions. It also states that GFRP bars shall not be used for any other concrete component of road projects.
| No. | Permitted concrete component |
|---|---|
| 1 | Approach slabs |
| 2 | Bridge decks and bridge deck overlays, walkways of foot over bridges, slab culverts |
| 3 | Bridge cum bandhara, including deck slabs and barriers between piers |
| 4 | Concrete roads: jointed plain concrete pavement, continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and short-panel concrete pavements, cast-in-situ and precast |
| 5 | Retaining walls |
| 6 | Noise barriers |
| 7 | Box culverts |
| 8 | Crash barriers and bridge parapets |
| 9 | Pedestrian parapets and railings |
| 10 | Bulkheads and bulkhead copings |
| 11 | Mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) wall panels and copings |
| 12 | Drainage structures |
| 13 | Plain concrete components |
IRC:137-2022 sets geometric, mechanical, product qualification and quality-control requirements for the bars, with test methods referenced to ASTM D7957. Ask for the lot test reports against those requirements.
These are the on-site practices the guideline sets for road work. They are stricter than common building-site habits, so brief the site team before the first delivery.
Store bars above the ground or floor, in boxes or on platforms, skids or other supports, protected from damage. Where it is hotter than 45°C, or the bars are in direct sun, cover them with opaque sheets.
Only tying and field cutting are allowed on site. Bending, straightening, coupling, and thermal or shear cutting of GFRP bars are not permitted.
Tie bars with self-locking plastic straps, or with plastic-coated pliable steel wire strong enough to hold the bars in position. No other tying method is permitted.
Splices need the Engineer-in-Charge’s approval. Only lap splices are used, with the lap length shown on the drawing. Mechanical couplers are not permitted.
Bars must be free of dirt, paint, oil and other contaminants before concreting.
Electrical grounding of GFRP bars is prohibited. Plan earthing through other means.
Bends are made in the factory, before the resin is fully cured. The guideline sets a minimum bend radius and tests the straight portion of bent bars.
At least three times the nominal diameter for sizes M6 to M25, and four times for M29 and M32, for bars bent before the resin is fully cured.
A straight portion long enough for tensile testing is taken from the bent bar. Where the shape does not allow it, specimens from the same production lot are used.
Lot-wise test reports for tensile strength, modulus and the other properties the specification requires, plus the bar identification on each bundle or coil.
The diameters and shapes the supplier can make, coil and bar lengths, and the bend radius they work to for each diameter.
IRC:137-2022 draws on these documents, and 7 STAR’s literature lists them as the codes used around the world. Consultants usually have one of them on the desk.
| Document | Region | Use |
|---|---|---|
| ACI 440.1R | USA | Guide for the design and construction of structural concrete reinforced with FRP bars |
| ACI 440.5 | USA | Specification for construction with FRP reinforcing bars |
| ASTM D7957 | USA | Specification for solid round GFRP bars for concrete reinforcement |
| AASHTO LRFD GFRP guide | USA | Bridge design guide specifications for GFRP-reinforced concrete |
| CSA S806 and S6 | Canada | Buildings with FRP, and the Canadian highway bridge design code |
| fib Bulletin 40 | Europe | FRP reinforcement in RC structures |
Related pages: GFRP for roads and drainage and GFRP vs TMT.
IS 18256:2023, “Solid Round Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Bars for Concrete Reinforcement — Specification”. 7 STAR’s website names IS 18255:2023 with it as the companion standard on test methods.
IRC:137-2022, “Guidelines on Use of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Bars in Road Projects (Part 1: Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Bars)”, approved by the IRC Council in June 2022.
No. IRC:137-2022 lists the concrete components where GFRP bars may be used, including drainage structures, box culverts, crash barriers, retaining walls and concrete pavements. It says GFRP bars shall not be used for any other concrete component of road projects.
Loads and load combinations come from IRC codes and MoRTH specifications. Members are designed to the AASHTO and ACI references listed in the guideline. Other design standards need prior approval from the project authority.
Not under IRC:137-2022. Only lap splices are used, with the Engineer-in-Charge’s approval and the lap length shown on the drawing.
IS 18256:2023 is a product specification for the bar, so it is used wherever GFRP bars are specified. The design of a building element is then done by the consultant, typically to an FRP design guide such as ACI 440.1R.
For consultants, QA/QC teams and departments. Tell us the project and the code you are working to. You can also call +91-7669275932 or write to contact@7stargfrp.com.
Application pages: Flooring · Roads & Drains · GFRP vs TMT · Precast & Bent. Or read the 7 STAR GFRP blog.