Cathodic Protection Design for Steel in Concrete Structures

Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements

Welcome to Module D2 of the Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Protection of Steel in Concrete Structures. 

If you want to protect your firm from significant liability and ensure your rehabilitation plans satisfy international regulatory bodies, understanding compliance criteria is essential. 

Once a pre-design investigation justifies electrochemical mitigation, designers must transition from basic theory into a structured, code-compliant execution phase.

This module introduces you to the mandatory guidelines of BS EN ISO 12696, unpacking everything from quality documentation frameworks to specialised system component constraints. 

You will discover that this international benchmark operates strictly as a performance standard rather than a restrictive design code. This structural freedom allows engineering teams to achieve corrosion mitigation through creative methods, provided the installation incorporates robust monitoring hardware capable of verifying strict potential criteria. 

By mastering this regulatory interface, you will safely guide your projects from broad structural concepts to meticulous, field-ready electrical specifications.

What You Will Learn

  • Performance Standard Strategy: Discover the practical freedom of working within a performance-based framework that allows flexible engineering paths, provided specific validation outcomes are met.


  • Personnel & Competency Controls: Align project management tiers with the formalised qualification standards and certification rules mandated by BS EN ISO 15257.


  • The Concept Design Process: Learn to systematically evaluate preliminary investigation profiles, covering steel areas, chloride exposure, environmental variables, and structural lifespan constraints.


  • Anode Boundary Management: Master current density limits for embedded materials, including the 110 mA/m² long-term limit for MMO-coated titanium systems, to prevent substrate acidification.


  • Meticulous Cable Optimisation: Calculate current carrying capacity to ensure direct current paths carry 125% of the design current while limiting zone voltage drops to within 10%.


  • Hardware Isolation Protocol: Implement strict continuity validation and bonding setups during installation to completely eliminate short circuits and stray current corrosion.


  • Data Integrity Infrastructure: Specify manual and computerised data management systems designed to record, track, and protect commissioning and historical performance metrics.

Who This Course Is For

If you deal with the long-term structural integrity of reinforced concrete, this course is designed specifically for you. We bridge the gap between complex electrochemical theory and real-world asset preservation, making this module essential for:

  • Civil & Structural Engineers: If you need to translate survey summaries into actionable installation metrics, this training shows you how to structure calculations, specify cable parameters, and verify design packages.


  • Asset Managers & Infrastructure Owners: If you are responsible for approving complex contracts, this course gives you the diagnostic checklist needed to audit technical submittals against international compliance baselines.


  • Cathodic Protection Practitioners & Site Technicians: Take your compliance knowledge to the next level. You will master the exact installation testing gates, redundancy connection rules, and extra-low-voltage safety criteria required on-site.


  • Corrosion Consultants & Specialists: Refine your analytical toolkit. This module helps you confidently map conceptual ideas into detailed design calculations covering cathode current demands and anode lifespan capacities.


  • Sustainability & Net-Zero Officers: If your goal is to minimise structural rebuilding cycles, you will learn how to verify long-term performance metrics using embedded tracking infrastructure to guarantee multi-decade asset safety.

Course Delivery & Requirements

To maintain strict compliance and ensure professional-level mastery, this course utilises an integrated learning framework:

  • On-Demand Video Lessons: High-yield video walkthroughs of system component selection, installation parameters, and concept design verification stages.


  • Technical Document Downloads: Full access to presentation slides (PDF) and design reference briefs covering BS EN ISO 12696 performance standard requirements.


  • Direct Expert Q&A: Submit technical questions directly through the online learning platform to John Paul Segers (MSc, CEng, FICorr, FIMMM, BS EN ISO 15257 Level 5 CP Expert).


  • Progression Gate: Learners must complete all video lessons, review all documentation, and pass the integrated assessment before unlocking subsequent modules.


  • 100% Mastery Criteria: Achieving a perfect score of 100% on the final 13 -question module quiz is required to proceed.


  • Members have access to the On-Demand Video Lessons and Quiz for 1 year from the date of registration, and complete access to downloadable slides (PDF) and the module overview (PDF) for offline reference.

Course Structure and Content

This element of the course has been extracted from the complete Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Protection of Steel in Concrete Structures course as follows:

    1. Welcome and Course Overview - Video

    2. Purchasing Cathodic Protection Standards - Video

    1. Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements - Overview

    2. Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements - Video

    3. Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements - Slides

    4. Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements - Quiz

About this course

  • £95.00
  • 6 lessons
  • 1 hour of video content

Module D2 - Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you will have developed an understanding of the following:

  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 1 - Scope.
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 4 - Quality Management.
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 4 - Personnel.
  • Design competence – course disclaimer and student responsibility. 
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 4 - Design. 
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 6 Cathodic Protection System Components.
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design requirements for cathodic protection – Section 7 Installation Procedures.
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design informative guidance – Section B.2 Concept Cathodic Protection Design Process.
  • BS EN ISO 12696 design informative guidance – Section B.3 Detailed Cathodic Protection Design Process.


Module Quiz

At the end of this module, there is a quiz consisting of 13 questions that are aimed at reinforcing the learning and knowledge you have gained from attending this module. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • If a cathodic protection system does not feature permanent reference electrodes, does it comply with BS EN ISO 12696?

    No, it does not. The standard explicitly dictates that its requirements are only applicable if systems are installed with integrated, permanent monitoring equipment—such as silver/silver chloride or manganese/manganese dioxide reference electrodes. Without these tracking components, it is impossible to evaluate the field performance data against mandated protection criteria. This standard does not apply to simple, unmonitored patch-repair setups.

  • If an engineering team installs MMO-coated titanium surface anodes, what are the strict current limits to prevent concrete failure?

    For mixed metal oxide (MMO) coated titanium anodes embedded in or fixed to concrete, current distribution must be heavily controlled to prevent localised acidification and coating degradation. The standard mandates that the short-term current density at the anode surface must never exceed 220 mA/m², and the long-term operational current density must remain below 110 mA/m².

  • If a single positive connection cable breaks on a multi-anode field zone, will the entire system fail?

    Not if it is engineered correctly with redundant pathways. The standard mandates that each independent anode zone must be constructed with multiple cable-to-anode connections for physical redundancy. The system must be balanced so that the unexpected failure of a single positive connection does not shift the overall zone current distribution or local voltage drop by more than 10%.

  • If electrical cabling is routed across a structure, what are the isolation rules separating AC power lines from DC protection circuits?

    Safety and signal clarity require strict physical separation. DC cabling linked to the cathodic protection loops is classified as extra-low voltage and must be isolated and routed completely separate from AC grid lines. Furthermore, if the system does not utilise physical barriers to prevent public or animal contact with the anode, the maximum direct current supply rating must be restricted to 24V DC.

Module D2 - Introduction to Design Requirements

Module D2 is the second of ten modules which form the complete Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Protection of Steel in Concrete Structures course.

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Continue with your Learning and Personal Development

Individual modules do NOT provide CPD hours. To unlock your 50-Hour Certified CPD Certificate, you must complete all 10 modules.

Module D2 is the second of ten modules which form the complete Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Protection of Steel in Concrete Structures course.

Completion of all modules of the full Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Protection of Steel in Concrete Structures course provides you with a Continued Professional Development (CPD) completion certificate worth 50 hours.

I encourage you to continue with your learning and personal development to help identify that corrosion management can be used as an effective tool to support sustainable and low-carbon development now and in the future.