National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 2133:2026. It supersedes BS EN 2133:2020, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee ACE/61, Metallic materials for aerospace purposes.

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 October 2026.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 17 August 2026.

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, Czechia, 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 2133:2026) has been prepared by ASD-STAN.

After enquiries and votes carried out in accordance with the rules of this Association, this document has received the approval of the National Associations and the Official Services of the member countries of ASD-STAN, prior to its presentation to CEN.

This document shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by April 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by April 2027.

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.

This document supersedes EN 2133:2020.

EN 2133:2026 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 2133:2020:

making the nickel strike optional instead of mandatory;
clarifying the definitions of brightener and wetting agent;
providing clarification on the heat treatment;
adding the option to perform de-embrittlement heat treatment after removal and re-plating if both processes take less than 4 h;
including information on post-treatment in type 3;
adding an introductory sentence before the different types of cadmium plating;
modifying Annex A.

See also Annex B for a list of technical changes.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this document: 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.

1 Scope

This document specifies the electrolytic cadmium plating of parts and fasteners in steel of tensile strength UTS ≤ 1 450 MPa, copper, copper alloys and nickel alloys, whose temperature in service does not exceed 235 °C.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Abbreviated term

5 Purpose of process

6 Limitations of process use

7 Coating thickness

8 Information for the manufacturer

9 Condition of parts prior to the treatment

10 Process schedule

10.1 General

10.2 Masking

10.3 Surface pre-treatment

10.4 Nickel strike

10.5 Cadmium plating

11 Post treatment

11.1 Hydrogen-embrittlement-relief heat treatment

11.2 Post-treatment

12 Removal of the plating

13 Required characteristics

13.1 Appearance

13.2 Adhesion

13.3 Coating thickness

13.4 Hydrogen embrittlement of steels

13.5 Corrosion resistance

14 Test methods

14.1 For process approval

14.2 For acceptance of parts

15 Periodic tests

16 Quality assurance

16.1 Approval of the manufacturer

16.2 Process approval

16.3 Acceptance

16.4 Reprocessing

16.5 Periodic chemical analysis

17 Designation

Bibliography