What IS 10655 Means for a Steam Hose (and What “Exceeds the Standard” Covers)

What IS 10655 means for a steam hose, and what “exceeds the standard” covers

IS 10655 is the Indian specification for rubber steam hose, and its current edition carries an ISO number too. Here is what the BIS record says, how supplier type labels compare with it, and how to read the three different claims a datasheet can make.

Flexihose rubber steam hose: one wire braid exceeds IS 10655 Type 2, 145 PSI / 10 BAR, −40 °C to +195 °C · two wire braid exceeds IS 10655 Type 3, 250 PSI / 17 BAR, −40 °C to +232 °C · no BIS licence on either grade · no ISO 6134 claim

Rubber steam hose datasheets in India commonly name IS 10655, ours included. We describe our two grades as exceeding IS 10655 Type 2 and Type 3, we hold no BIS licence for either, and we make no ISO 6134 claim. Those three statements only make sense once you know what the standard is, which edition is current, and what each kind of claim actually promises. This guide covers what IS 10655 covers according to BIS, how the Type 2 and Type 3 labels compare with the current edition, the difference between conforming, exceeding and holding a BIS licence, and how IS 10655 relates to ISO 6134.

What IS 10655 covers, according to the BIS record

The Bureau of Indian Standards publishes a record for each standard. As read on 11 October 2026, the record for the current edition gives the following (BIS, IS 10655:2022 record):

• Number and title: IS 10655:2022 / ISO 6134:2017, “Rubber steam hose – Specification (Second Revision)”.
• Equivalence: identical under dual numbering with ISO 6134:2017.
• What it replaced: IS 10655:1999, the first revision, which BIS lists as withdrawn (BIS, IS 10655:1999 record).
• Committee: PCD 13, Rubber and Rubber Products Sectional Committee, in the Petroleum, Coal and Related Products Department. No amendment issued.

Because the Indian text is identical to ISO 6134:2017, the scope is the ISO scope. ISO 6134 covers rubber hoses and hose assemblies, with metal hose fittings, designed to carry saturated steam and hot water condensate. It applies to two types: low pressure, with a maximum working pressure of 6 bar, and high pressure, with a maximum working pressure of 18 bar. Each type is divided into two classes, with an oil-resistant or a non-oil-resistant cover (ISO 6134:2017 abstract, EVS).

The record also lists the Indian test standards the specification calls on. They include the IS 443 series for hydrostatic testing, ozone resistance and electrical resistance of hoses, parts of IS 3400 for abrasion, accelerated ageing and the effect of liquids on rubber, IS 12656 for bending, IS 17708 for adhesion between components, and IS 15913 for measuring hose dimensions. In other words, IS 10655 is a full product specification with its own test regime, not a pressure rating.

IS 10655 Type 2 vs Type 3 in one table, set against the current edition

Indian steam hose datasheets, ours among them, describe grades against IS 10655 “Type 2” and “Type 3”. The current edition, as we have just seen, specifies two types, not three. So before comparing quotes it helps to put the labels and the standard’s own types side by side, using only published figures.

1. What the Type 2 and Type 3 labels describe on our sheet

On our catalogue, “exceeds IS 10655 Type 2” names the one wire braid grade: 145 PSI / 10 BAR working, 1450 PSI / 100 BAR minimum burst, −40 °C to +195 °C, bores 1/2" to 2". “Exceeds IS 10655 Type 3” names the two wire braid grade: 250 PSI / 17 BAR working, 2500 PSI / 170 BAR minimum burst, −40 °C to +232 °C, bores 1/2" to 1-1/4". The full tables for both are on our steam hose page. Our catalogue does not print an edition year beside either label.

2. What the current edition’s two types specify

ISO 6134 divides steam hose by maximum working pressure, and IS 10655:2022 adopts the same two-type scope. In the 2024 text, the low pressure type is limited to 6 bar, corresponding to 164 °C, and is reinforced with textile. The high pressure type is limited to 18 bar, corresponding to 210 °C, and is reinforced with steel wire. Either can have an oil-resistant or non-oil-resistant cover, and either can be electrically bonded, marked “M”, or electrically conductive, marked “Ω”.

3. Why the labels and the current types do not line up

A 10 BAR hose sits above the low pressure type’s 6 bar and below the high pressure type’s 18 bar. A 17 BAR hose sits just below 18 bar. And a two-type standard has no Type 3 at all. The “Type 2” on a datasheet and the “Type 2” in ISO 6134:2024 therefore describe different hoses. Where a datasheet prints an edition year beside a type, check it against the BIS record; where it prints none, ask.

4. How to compare a quote against a tender that cites IS 10655

Read the tender for the edition and the type it names. Then compare the supplier’s printed working pressure, minimum burst, temperature, reinforcement and cover against that type, figure by figure, rather than matching type labels. If the tender requires a licensed product, ask for the licence number, which the next section explains. Our guide to reading steam hose specifications covers each figure line by line, and our steam hose size chart gives the bore and mean OD for every size.

“Conforms to”, “exceeds” and “BIS licensed” are three different claims

These three phrases often sit on the same line of a datasheet, and they are not interchangeable. Each promises something different, and each is backed by someone different.

1. What “exceeds” covers, and what it does not

When we say our grades exceed IS 10655 Type 2 and Type 3, the claim rests on the figures we print: working pressure, minimum burst, temperature range and construction. It is our statement, not a third party’s. It does not say the hose has been tested against every clause of the standard. ISO 6134 contains requirements that a pressure figure does not speak to, for example that the cover is pricked along its length to relieve pressure between the plies, and a scheme of type and routine tests. An “exceeds” claim tells you nothing either way about those. That is why we describe our grades as exceeding the standard rather than conforming to it, and why we do not call either grade certified.

2. What a BIS licence adds, and how to recognise one

BIS describes its certification scheme as basically voluntary, while the Central Government can make compliance with an Indian Standard compulsory for particular products. Under a licence, the maker may apply the BIS Standard Mark, and BIS asks for the licence number to appear with the mark on the product, preferably below it, in the form CM/L-XXXXXXXXXX. A licence is the one claim of the three that a buyer can check independently of the supplier. On 11 October 2026, the BIS record for IS 10655:2022 showed a licence count of 0; check the record yourself on the day you tender, because that figure can change.

3. Where we stand, in plain terms

Neither of our steam hose grades carries a BIS licence or a CM/L number. The only BIS licensed products we make are Water Hose Type 2 under IS 444-2017 and Air Hose Type 1 and Type 2 under IS 446-2017, and those licences are shown on their own product pages. If a tender demands a BIS licensed steam hose, we will tell you that we do not hold one, rather than offer the nearest thing. What we can supply is our own test certificate, sent with every consignment: our laboratory runs ten tests, including hydrostatic pressure, ageing, tensile strength and dimensional checks, on equipment calibrated by NABL accredited bodies.

How IS 10655 relates to ISO 6134

The relationship is recorded by BIS itself: IS 10655:2022 carries the dual number ISO 6134:2017, and its degree of equivalence is “identical under dual numbering”. The Indian edition adopts the ISO text of 2017.

ISO has since moved on. ISO 6134:2024, the fifth edition, published in May 2024, cancels and replaces the 2017 edition. Its foreword lists the main changes as updated normative references, bending methods corrected in line with ISO 10619-1, and electrical measurement methods corrected in line with ISO 8031. As read on 11 October 2026, the BIS record still shows the 2022 adoption of the 2017 text, with no amendment issued. So a tender that says “ISO 6134” without a year may mean the 2024 edition, while one that says “IS 10655:2022” means the 2017 text.

Three requirements from the general clause of ISO 6134:2024 are worth knowing whichever edition your tender names (ISO 6134:2024, clause 4):

• No quick-release couplings. The standard states that quick-release couplings shall not be used under any circumstances.
• Superheat shortens life. A caution notes that where superheated steam conditions occur, the service life of the product can be reduced. Our guide to saturated and superheated steam explains why.
• Do not trap the hose shut. A second caution notes that a vacuum caused by shutting off the hose assembly at both ends can precipitate “popcorning”, a separation of the lining.

We make no ISO 6134 claim for either grade. Both are described against IS 10655 Type 2 and Type 3, which they exceed, and every figure we publish is our catalogue’s own. If your tender cites ISO 6134, send us the clause and the edition, and we will tell you what we can confirm and what we cannot.