This British Standard is the official English language version of EN 1168:2005.
EN1168 is a candidate “harmonized” European standard and fully takes into account the requirements of the European Commission mandate M/100, Precast concrete products, given under the EU Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC), and is intended to lead to CE marking. The date of applicability of EN 1168 as a harmonized
European Standard, i.e. the date after which this standard may be used for CE marking purposes, is subject to an announcement in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The Commission in consultation with Member States has agreed a transition period for the co-existence of harmonized European Standards and their corresponding national standard(s). It is intended that this period will comprise a period, usually nine months, after the date of availability of the European Standard, during which any required changes to national regulations are to be made, followed by a further period, usually of 12 months, for the implementation of CE marking. At the end of this co-existence period, the national standard(s) will be withdrawn. In the UK, there are no corresponding national standards.
The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee B/524, Precast Concrete Products, which has the responsibility to:
— aid enquirers to understand the text;
— present to the responsible international/European committee any enquiries on the interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep the UK interests informed;
— monitor related international and European developments and promulgate them in the UK.
This European Standard deals with the requirements and the basic performance criteria and specifies minimum values where appropriate for precast hollow core slabs made of prestressed or reinforced normal weight concrete according to EN 1992-1-1:2004.
This European Standard covers terminology, performance criteria, tolerances, relevant physical properties, special test methods, and special aspects of transport and erection. Hollow core elements are used in floors, roofs, walls and similar applications. In this European Standard the material properties and other requirements for floors and roofs are dealt with; for special use in walls and other applications, see the relevant product standards for possible additional requirements.
The elements have lateral edges provided with a longitudinal profile in order to make a shear key for transfer of vertical shear through joints between contiguous elements. For diaphragm action the joints have to function as horizontal shear joints.
The elements are manufactured in factories by extrusion, slipforming or mouldcasting. The application of the standard is limited for prestressed elements to a maximum depth of 450 mm and a maximum width of 1 200 mm. For reinforced elements the maximum depth is limited to 300 mm and the maximum width without transverse reinforcement to 1 200 mm and with transverse reinforcement to 2 400 mm.
The elements may be used in composite action with an in situ structural topping cast on site. The applications considered are floors and roofs of buildings, including areas for vehicles in the category F and G of EN 1991-2 which are not subjected to fatigue loading. For building in seismic zones additional provisions are given in EN 1998-1.
This European Standard does not deal with complementary matters. E.g. the slabs should not be used in roofs without additional protection against water penetration.
