IMSBC Schedule Fields: Which Bind and Which Are Guidance
IMSBC Code section 1.4.2 and the split between mandatory schedule cells and the informative characteristics that a loading plan must not be built on.
Not every field of an IMSBC Code individual schedule carries the same force, and the distinction decides how much of the operational guidance around any solid bulk cargo is regulation and how much is trade practice. Section 1.4.2 of the Code makes the description, the characteristics other than the hazard classification block, the hazard field and the emergency procedures recommendatory or informative. Section 1.2.1 puts it beyond doubt, providing that the schedule properties are given only for guidance and that current valid information must be obtained from the shipper before loading.
What binds is the hazard classification block, being the class, the subsidiary hazards, the MHB designation and the group, together with the substantive operational fields such as loading, precautions, ventilation and carriage where those carry text rather than reading no special requirements.
The practical consequence is that a bulk density or stowage factor printed in a schedule is not the figure a loading plan is built on. The full article will work through the field list, the force of each, and the interaction with the shipper’s declaration under section 4.2.2 and SOLAS regulation XII/10 .