Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
18 (European Parliament, 2004) addressed the area of concrete protection
and repair and in response CEN, the European standards body, set up
Subcommittee TC104/SC8 in 1988 to develop the necessary performance
specifications and test methods for the industry.
The concrete repair sector in Europe was relatively new in 1988 and
few standards applied directly to concrete repair products and systems. The
concrete repair sector would therefore provide an ideal route for standards
development. Representatives from CEN member countries across Europe
nominated technical representatives that could support Steering Committees
and Working Groups tasked with drafting the performance standards and
test methods that were needed.
European Standard EN 1504 'Products and systems for the protection and
repair of concrete structures' is the result of this labour, which came into effect
on 31 December 2008, taking 20 years to complete. The standard comprises
10 Parts (
Table 11.1),
six of which are performance standards (Parts 2 to 7)
that set minimum performance criteria for repair products and systems to be
used for protection and repair of both reinforced and unreinforced concrete.
The performance standards cross-reference to nearly 100 new specially
developed testing standards for repair products and systems, as well as
adopting appropriate existing ISO or national standards (Davies and Robery,
2006). EN 1504 also sets out a methodology for the successful repair and
protection of concrete structures, including the supervision and quality
control of site works. The end result is a range of products and systems for
the protection and repair of concrete that are approved as meeting minimum
requirements as 'fit for purpose'. The vehicle for product approval is the
'CE-mark', demonstrating that the product or system meets a particular set
of performance requirements.
Compliance with EN 1504 will, in effect, be mandatory for many
specifiers and purchasers because of the effect of the European Public
Purchasing Directives. Government bodies across Europe, including
Highways Authorities, have contributed to the development of EN 1504
over the years and have modified their own specifications to bring them
into line with the methodology. EN 1504 is therefore highly relevant to the
owner, designer, specifier and contractor as well as to the materials supplier.
The EN 1504 series and associated test methods were drafted by CEN
committee TC104/SC8 and the standards apply across the 25 member
countries of the EU as well as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
11.2 Structure of the Standard
EN 1504 builds on early work on concrete repair published previously
in Europe, including the RILEM Technical Committee on repair strategy
(Schiessl, 1994), German guidelines on repair (DAfSTb, 1991), reports by
the UK's Building Research Establishment (BRE, 1997) and various Concrete
Society Reports (Concrete Society, various dates), among others. EN 1504
