National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 131‑4:2020. It supersedes BS EN 131‑4:2007, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee B/512, Ladders.

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

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of 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 2020.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 22 December 2019.

This European Standard was corrected and reissued by the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre on 18 March 2020.

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, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 131‑4:2020) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 93 “Ladders”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

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of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by September 2020, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by September 2020.

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 131‑4:2007.

This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of Directive 2001/95/EC.

Compared to EN 131‑4:2007 the following modifications have been made:

strength test of the ladder in position of use;
classes “non-professional” and “professional” introduced;
strength test and sliding test of decking component modified.

This document is one of a series about ladders. Other standards of this series are listed in Clause 2 and in the Bibliography.

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, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

1 Scope

This document specifies the requirements, tests and marking of hinged combination ladders with one or several hinge joints.

This document is not applicable to hinge-joints of combination and standing ladders as defined by EN 131‑1.

This part of the standard is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 131‑1, EN 131‑2 and EN 131‑3.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Functional dimensions

4.1 General

4.2 Hinged ladders in “platform position”

4.3 Hinged ladders in “stand-off” position

5 Requirements

5.1 General

5.2 Decking component

5.3 Ladder hinged in the longitudinal direction

6 Test methods

6.1 General

6.2 Tests method for hinge ladders

7 Marking

8 User instructions

Bibliography

BS EN 131-4:2020

Ladders - Single or multiple hinge-joint ladders

Current, Under Review

Published:

30 Apr 2020