The execution of steel structures : the EN 1090-2 standard

The first decade of the 21st century saw the end of the replacement of the French body of standards by the European calculation codes, the Eurocodes, and the implementation standard EN 1090-2 .

First, it is worth recalling that the EN 1090-2 is one of the 5 constituent parts of EN 1090.

EN 1090 in fact comprises a first part EN 1090-1 harmonized standard. The purpose of this standard is to provide manufacturers with the means to draw up a declaration of performance for the structural elements they place on the market as construction products, and to attest, over time, their compliance with the declared performance by affixing the CE mark to them. This part is inseparable from the concept of CE marking and Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 (known as the Construction Products Regulation) of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

Four parts complete the previous one; they constitute the technical support standards defining and quantifying the requirements:

• standard EN 1090-2 technical requirements for steel structures ;

• standard EN 1090-3 Technical requirements for aluminum structures;

• standard EN 1090-4 Technical requirements for elements and structures made of thin, cold-formed steel sections for roof, ceiling, wall and floor applications;

• standard EN 1090-5 Technical requirements for elements and structures made of thin, cold-formed aluminum sections for roof, ceiling, wall and floor applications.

The purpose of this article is to clarify the spirit, purpose and content of the EN 1090-2 dedicated to the execution of steel structures.

Outside the context of CE marking, the EN 1090-2 sets out the execution requirements applicable to all types of steel structure. In its role as a tool for (or aid to) prescribing, it is today the only document dealing with the execution of steel structures; as such, it replaces the French standards in the NF P 22-XXX series, which mainly concerned...