BS EN 13659:2015

What is BS EN 13659- Shutters and external venetian blinds about?   

BS EN 13659 focuses on blinds and shutters for buildings as defined in EN 12216.  

BS EN 13659 specifies the performance requirements for shutters and external venetian blinds intended to be fitted externally to buildings and other construction works. BS EN 13659 deals also with the significant hazards for assembly, transport, installation, operation, and maintenance. 

BS EN 13659 applies to all shutters and external venetian blinds whatever their use and nature of the materials used, as follows and defined in EN 12216: external venetian blind, roller shutter, wing shutter, Venetian shutter, flat-closing concertina shutter, concertina shutter, or sliding panel shutter, with or without a system of projection. 

BS EN 13659 provides specific requirements for different constituent materials. BS EN 13659 evaluates the ability of constituent materials of the shutter to fulfil the following requirements during an economically reasonable service life: colour fastness, no degradation of aspect, resistance to breakage, resistance to corrosion, and dimensional stability. 

Note: The noise emission of power-operated shutters and external venetian blinds is not considered to be a relevant hazard to health and safety requirements. Therefore, BS EN 13659 does not contain any specific requirements on noise health and safety objective. 

Who is BS EN 13659 - Shutters and external venetian blinds for?  

BS EN 13659 on shutters and external venetian blinds is useful for:  

• Construction companies 
• Shutters and external venetian blinds installers 
• Civil engineers 
• Building Architects 
• Construction workers  
• Safety agencies 
• Contractors 

Why should you use BS EN 13659- Shutters and external venetian blinds?   

Shutters and external Venetian blinds are elegant, modern window coverings mounted on the outer walls of the building. External Venetian blinds protect the interior of the building against excessive sunlight, effectively reducing the level of noise as well as adding the perfect finishing touch to its look. 

BS EN 13659 deals with all significant hazards, hazardous situations, and events when shutters and external venetian blinds are used as intended and under conditions of misuse which are reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturers. BS EN 13659 covers shutters and external venetian blinds mounted externally. In case such products are installed internally, they should fulfil all relevant safety requirements defined in EN 13120. 

BS EN 13659 guides you with instructions for handling, unpacking and installation of shutters and external blinds. BS EN 13659 also provides you with instructions for use and maintenance of shutters and external blinds. 

What’s changed since the last update?  

BS EN 13659:2015 supersedes BS EN 13659:2004+A1:2008 which is withdrawn. BS EN 13659:2015 has some technical changes with respect to BS EN 13659:2004+A1:2008. These include: 

• “Resistance to wind loads” has been modified and has been aligned with the revised version of EN 1932 “Test methods” 
• “Resistance of non-retractable elements to pressure loads” has been added to integrate requirements on the shutters and external venetian blinds in the retracted position 
• “Resistance of mechanisms holding the shutter in the extended position” has been clarified and modified to be applicable to any type of shutters and external venetian blinds 
• “Prevention of access” has been added 
• “Materials” has been aligned with the new version of EN 13245-1 for plastics and requirements for metals have been clarified