The structural Eurocodes are a set of unified international codes of practice for designing buildings and civil engineering structures, which will eventually replace national codes (e.g. BSI) in the European Community.
Click here for details about each set of Eurocodes.
The complete suite of structural Eurocodes are being produced by the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN), the European committee for standardisation. EN presently has 29 members including the UK.
There are ten Eurocodes, each consisting of a number of parts. EN 1990 gives all the operative material independent rules (e.g. partial factors for actions, load combination expressions for ultimate and serviceability limit states), and therefore EN 1992 to EN 1999, which do not provide material independent guidance, cannot be used without EN 1990.
Each of the Eurocode parts is produced by a sub-committee under the guidance and co-ordination of a technical committee (CEN/TC 250). Delegates of the 29 Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) members are represented on CEN/TC 250 and its sub-committees.
Drafts of the Eurocode parts are elaborated by project teams, which are selected by the appropriate sub-committees. A project team consists of about six experts who represent the sub-committee. A vast majority of the project teams include a UK-based expert.
A Eurocode is subject to extensive consultation before it is adopted. Progressive drafts are discussed and commented on by CEN members and their appointed experts. A Eurocode part is adopted only after a positive vote by CEN Members.
Eurocodes have been developed to improve the competitiveness of the European construction industry, both within and outside the European Union.
As with other European standards, Eurocodes will be used in public procurement specifications and to assess products for CE (Conformité Européen) mark.
The introduction of the Eurocodes will also give the following benefits and opportunities:
- provide a common understanding regarding the design of structures between owners, operators and users, designers, contractors and manufacturers of construction products
- facilitate the exchange of construction services between Member States
- facilitate the marketing and use of structural components and kits of parts in Member States
- provide a common basis for research and development in the construction sector
- allow the preparation of common design aids and software
- increase the competitiveness of the European civil engineering firms, contractors, designers and product manufacturers in their world-wide activities.
The Eurocodes are innovative and of high technical quality. They have the most up-to-date information which encompasses expertise from all European countries.
In 1975, the Commission of the European Community decided on an action programme in the field of construction, based on Article 95 of the Treaty of Rome. The objective of the programme was the elimination of technical obstacles to trade and the harmonisation of technical specifications.
In 1989 the special agreement between the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) and the European Commission transferred the preparation and publication of the Eurocodes to the CEN, thus providing the Eurocodes with a future status of European EN standards. The agreement specified that the Eurocodes were intended to serve as reference documents to be recognised by authorities of the Member States.
The structural Eurocodes were available as European pre-standards (ENVs) for some years and are now being converted to the full European standards (ENs). Publication of each the various EN Eurocode Parts started in 2002 and is expected to be finished in 2006.
The construction sector is an important component of European industry. It is the leading source of employment and the European Community is the number one exporter in the world in this field.
Nonetheless, within the framework of the internal market, the development of the building industry has been impeded by a certain number of obstacles to the free circulation of construction products due mainly to divergent national regulations on issues of:
- technical specifications for manufacturing construction materials
- machines and construction site materials
- certification of conformity to technical requirements for products and projects
- the impact of projects and construction materials on safety
- health and well-being.
Eurocodes are designed to harmonize standards across these areas, enabling the building and construction industry to develop and become more competitive.
