GET EN124 STANDARD INFORMATION

What is EN124 Standard?

BS EN 124:2015, the Standard for gully tops and manhole tops for vehicular and pedestrian areas was published on 31 July 2015. It is a substantial revision to the 1994 version, as it splits the standard into one general part and five material-specific parts, and it brings products made of different materials into the scope of BS EN 124.

BS EN 124 History & Definitions

BS EN 124 (Gully Tops and Manhole Tops for Vehicular and Pedestrian Areas) superseded BS 497:1976 Specification for Manhole Covers, Road Gully Gratings, and Frames for Drainage Purposes in 1994, and was updated to become BS EN 124:2015. It is the British adoption of the European standard for covers and gratings that separates products into a number of classes based on a static load test, and also groups the locations where each class should be installed (and the minimum class that should be used in each). It was produced and published by the BSI Group.

The standard is split into one general part and five material-specific parts and brings products made of different materials into the scope of BS EN 124.

• BS EN 124-1:2015 — Definitions, classification, general principles of design, performance requirements, and test methods:
• BS EN 124-2:2015 — Gully tops and manhole tops made of cast iron.
• BS EN 124-3:2015 — Gully tops and manhole tops made of steel or aluminum alloys.
• BS EN 124-4:2015 — Gully tops and manhole tops made of steel reinforced concrete.
• BS EN 124-5:2015 — Gully tops and manhole tops made of composite materials.
• BS EN 124-6:2015 — Gully tops and manhole tops made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC-U).

BS EN 124 Groups & Classes

Let’s start by looking at the groups that BS EN 124 uses to categorize the areas in which covers may be used. These range from Group 1, which represents the least demanding environments, to Group 6 which represents the most demanding environments.

• Group 1 — areas where only pedestrians have access.
• Group 2 — car parks and pedestrian areas where only occasional vehicular access is likely (incl. driveways).
• Group 3 — car parks, forecourts, industrial sites, and areas with slow-moving traffic. Also in highway locations up to 500mm from the kerb and up to 200mm into the verge, excluding motorways.
• Group 4 — areas where cars and lorries have access, including carriageways, hard shoulders and pedestrian areas.
• Group 5 — areas where high wheel loads are imposed, such as loading areas, docks, or aircraft pavements.
• Group 6 — areas where particularly high wheel loads are imposed such as aircraft pavements.

Next up are the classes that BS EN 124 to rate a cover’s static load capabilities, ranging from A15 to F900.

• Class A15 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 15kN test load.
• Class B125 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 125kN test load.
• Class C250 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 250kN test load.
• Class D400 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 400kN test load.
• Class E600 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 600kN test load.
• Class F900 — covers and gratings capable of withstanding a 900kN test load.