What the Eurocodes consist of

The structure

EN 1990 — basis of structural design

The common framework: limit states, reliability, load combinations, the principle of partial factors. Every other part builds on it.

EN 1991 — actions

Self-weight and imposed load, fire actions, snow, wind, temperature, actions during execution, accidental actions.

EN 1992–1996 — design by material

Concrete, steel, composite, timber, masonry. Steel is EN 1993, and within it:

• 1-1: general rules and rules for buildings,
• 1-3: cold-formed members and sheeting,
• 1-2: structural fire design,
• 1-8: joints.

EN 1997 — geotechnical design

Foundations, ground investigation, earthworks.

EN 1998 — seismic design

EN 1999 — aluminium structures

How they connect

A design typically proceeds like this:

1. EN 1990: which limit states to verify, with which combinations.
2. EN 1991: how large the actions are.
3. The material part (EN 1993-1-3 for LGS): what resistance the structure has.
4. EN 1997: what the foundation can take.
5. Where needed, EN 1998 and the fire part.

The national annex

Every country issues a national annex to each part, which:

• gives the nationally determined parameters,
• contains the zone maps,
• may give supplementary, non-contradictory information.

So a design is not “to the Eurocodes” on its own but “to the Eurocodes plus that country’s national annex”. The national annex.

What to know about access

The text of the standards is paid for, available through the national standardisation body. So a knowledge base can give the numbers and the logic of the standards, not the text.

The generation change

The second generation of the Eurocodes is being introduced. It is a process lasting years, in which the old and the new editions live side by side. The second-generation Eurocodes.

The point

The Eurocodes are not one standard but a system. For any design you have to be able to say which parts and which edition it was made to.