National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 13726:2023. It supersedes BS EN 13726‑1:2002, BS EN 13726‑2:2002, BS EN 13726‑3:2003 and BS EN 13726‑4:2003, which are withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CH/205, Non-active medical devices.

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 30 September 2023.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 17 April 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 13726:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 205 “Non-active medical devices”, 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 March 2024, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by March 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.

This document supersedes EN 13726‑1:2002, EN 13726‑2:2002, EN 13726‑3:2003 and EN 13726‑4:2003.

This document is a merger of the previously published individual parts of the EN 13726 standard series. Annex A has been included which outlines the rationale for the major revisions of EN 13726 parts 1–4.

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.

1 Scope

This document specifies test methods for the evaluation of aspects of absorption of wound dressings, test methods for the evaluation of moisture vapour transmission rate of permeable film wound and fixation dressings, and test methods to assess waterproofness and extensibility.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Requirements

5 Test methods

Bibliography

BS EN 13726:2023

Test methods for wound dressings. Aspects of absorption, moisture vapour transmission, waterproofness and extensibility

Current

Published:

31 Jul 2025