National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 15090:2026. It supersedes BS EN 15090:2012, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PH/1, Safety, protective and occupational footwear.

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.

This publication has been prepared under a mandate given to the European Standards Organizations by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association. It is intended to support requirements of the EU legislation detailed in the European Foreword. A European Annex, usually Annex ZA or ZZ, describes how this publication relates to that EU legislation.

For the Great Britain market (England, Scotland and Wales), if UK Government has designated this publication for conformity with UKCA marking (or similar) legislation, it may contain an additional National Annex. Where such a National Annex exists, it shows the correlation between this publication and the relevant UK legislation. If there is no National Annex of this kind, the relevant Annex ZA or ZZ in the body of the European text will indicate the relationship to UK regulation applicable in Great Britain. References to EU legislation may need to be read in accordance with the UK designation and the applicable UK law. Further information on designated standards can be found at www.bsigroup.com/standardsandregulation.

For the Northern Ireland market, UK law will continue to implement relevant EU law subject to periodic confirmation. Therefore Annex ZA/ZZ in the European text, and references to EU legislation, are still valid for this market.

UK Government is responsible for legislation. For information on legislation and policies relating to that legislation, consult the relevant pages of www.gov.uk.

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 3 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 15090:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 161 “Foot and leg protectors”, the secretariat of which is held by BSI.

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 March 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by March 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 15090:2012.

EN 15090:2026 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 15090:2012:

general testing parameters revised, Clause 5;
Table 4 revised: requirements re-ordered, innocuousness reference added, insole/insocks/footbeds/seat socks reference changed to Table 3 of EN ISO 20345:20222;
zipper puller attachment strength and zipper lateral strength deleted;
Table 5 insole/insocks/footbeds/seat socks deleted;
tolerances added, new Table 5;
chemical resistance revised;
outsole requirements revised, Clause 6.7 and Figure 1;
radiant heat revised, Clause 7.2;
flame resistance revised, Clause 7.3;
marking revised, Clause 8;
manufacturer’s instruction and information revised, Clause 9;
Annex A (normative) Customized footwear for firefighters added.

This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its Member States.

For the relationship with EU Legislation, see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document.

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

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations 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.

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide minimum performance requirements and test methods for footwear for firefighters which is intended for use for firefighting and associated activities. A risk assessment should be used to determine whether the footwear covered by this document is suitable for the intended use for the expected exposure. Firefighters should be trained in the use, care and maintenance of the footwear covered by this document, including an understanding of its limitations.

1 Scope

This document specifies minimum requirements and test methods for the performance of three types (see 4.3) of footwear for use by firefighters for fire suppression, general-purpose rescue, fire rescue and hazardous materials emergencies. It also specifies requirements for footwear for firefighters equipped with customized insocks and customized footwear for firefighters. This document is intended to be used in conjunction with EN ISO 20345:20222.

This document does not cover the property of high visibility because of interaction with the clothing (e.g. trousers cover the footwear and vice versa) and work area conditions (e.g. dirt, mud).

Special risks are covered by complementary job-related standards (e.g. electrically insulating footwear, protection against chain saw injuries, protection against molten metal splash).

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Classification, design, and type

4.1 Classification

4.2 Design

4.3 Type

5 General testing parameters

6 Requirements

6.1 Types and classifications

6.2 General and additional requirements

6.3 Thermal behaviour

6.4 Compression resistance of the toe puff

6.5 Resistance to chemicals

6.6 Electrically insulating footwear

6.7 Outsole

7 Test methods

7.1 Heat insulation of the sole complex

7.2 Radiant heat

7.3 Flame resistance

7.4 Compression resistance of the toe puff

8 Marking

9 Manufacturer’s instructions and information

9.1 General

Bibliography