National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO/ASTM 52939:2023. It is identical to ISO/ASTM 52939:2023.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee AMT/8, Additive manufacturing.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 March 2024.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 261, Additive manufacturing, in cooperation with ASTM Committee F42, Additive Manufacturing Technologies, on the basis of a partnership agreement between ISO and ASTM International with the aim to create a common set of ISO/ASTM standards on Additive Manufacturing and in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 438, Additive manufacturing, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The construction sector is increasingly facing challenges with respect to labour shortages, project delays, increased lead times, excessive material use, large amounts of waste and adverse CO₂ footprint impacts. Furthermore, from a market perspective, the global construction demand is increasing especially as the housing crisis continues and infrastructure projects (whether new or sustaining existing structures) are on the increase. Additive construction (AC) also known as additive manufacturing for construction (AMC) and (3DCP) has the potential to address these issues directly.

Of late, AC has made great strides. Printed elements could potentially prove to be more durable, more sustainable, more eco-friendly, cheaper (en masse), and faster to deliver than conventional construction approaches. However, without AC standards, approval, certification, and risk mitigation are unattainable.

The purpose of this document is to outline the requirements necessary as a basis for production and delivery of high quality additively manufactured structures (residential or infrastructure) in the construction sector.

Important steps of the AC process are specified. These steps will be controlled and monitored to ensure high quality printed structures for on-site or off-site use. This document is not intended to be technology- or material-specific, and therefore sub-processes are applicable depending on the approach used. However, it should be noted that printed element(s) should be approved by a locally certified engineer and adhere to both local and regional specifications and requirements.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 1 December 2023.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO/ASTM 52939:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 261 "Additive manufacturing" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 438 “Additive Manufacturing” the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by June 2024, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by June 2024.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO/ASTM 52939:2023 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO/ASTM 52939:2023 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document specifies quality assurance requirements for additive construction (AC) concerning building and construction projects in which additive manufacturing techniques are used for construction. The requirements are independent of the material(s) and process category used.

This document does not apply to metals.

This document specifies the criteria for additive construction processes, quality-relevant characteristics, and factors along AC system operations. It further specifies activities and sequences within an AC cell (additive construction site) and project.

This document applies to all additive manufacturing technologies in building and construction (load bearing and non-load bearing), structural and infrastructure building elements for residential and commercial applications and follows an approach oriented to the process.

This document does not cover environmental, health and safety aspects that apply to printing facility setup, material handling, operating of robotic equipment, and packing of equipment and/or elements for shipping but material supplier guidelines, robotic solution operating guidelines, and local and regional requirements are applicable.

This document does not cover design approvals, material properties characterization and testing.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Constructability, assessment and review

4.1 General

4.2 AC feasibility assessment

4.3 Validation plan

5 Infrastructure of the AC cell

6 Qualification of the additive construction process

6.1 Quality-relevant process steps within the additive construction process

6.2 Data preparation

6.3 Requirements for the material management

6.4 System related pre-processing

6.5 Built process guidance

6.6 System (default) post-processing

6.7 Process qualification

7 Quality assurance

7.1 General

7.2 Personnel requirements

7.3 Documentation and tracing of the process steps

7.4 Quality controls

7.5 Delivery and logistics

Bibliography

BS EN ISO/ASTM 52939:2023

Additive manufacturing for construction. Qualification principles. Structural and infrastructure elements

Current

Published:

31 Mar 2024