🏗️ Concrete paving flags — bending strength and breaking load, water absorption, freeze-thaw resistance with de-icing salt, abrasion resistance, slip resistance and dimensions according to the annexes of the product standard; PN-EN 1339

Construction PN-EN 1339:

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. A product standard: it specifies materials, properties, requirements and test methods for unreinforced, cement-bound concrete paving flags and complementary fittings used on trafficked paved areas and roof coverings (EN 1339:2003, clause 1). It does not cover permeable flags or tactility and visibility; additional requirements are sometimes needed where studded tyres are regularly used. A paving flag is a unit whose overall length does not exceed 1 m and whose overall length divided by its thickness is greater than four (definition 3.2; the conditions do not apply to complementary fittings). The "Scope" field of the PKN card of PN-EN 1339:2005, in full (our translation): "This standard gives materials, properties, requirements and test methods for paving flags and complementary fittings made of unreinforced cement-bound concrete. It covers precast concrete paving flags and complementary fittings intended for use on pavement areas for pedestrian traffic and as roof coverings. 21 terms and definitions are given" (no full stop on the card). The card narrows the application to pavements "for pedestrian traffic", whereas the text of EN 1339:2003 speaks of trafficked paved areas ("trafficked paved areas") without such a restriction — the text of the standard prevails.

THE METHODS ARE IN THE NORMATIVE ANNEXES (table of contents of EN 1339:2003). B — acceptance testing of a delivered consignment; C — dimensions of a single flag; D — freeze-thaw resistance with de-icing salt; E — total water absorption; F — bending strength and breaking load; G — abrasion resistance with the wide abrasive wheel; H — abrasion resistance by the Böhme method; I — unpolished slip resistance value (USRV); J — visual aspects. The standards on paving blocks (PN-EN 1338) and on kerbs (PN-EN 1340), described in separate entries of this database, use the same letters; Annex F is different in each.

REQUIREMENTS FROM THE TEXT WE READ (EN 1339:2003, clause 5, up to 5.3.5.3). Facing layer at least 4 mm over the area declared as faced (according to Annex C); an arris described as square may be bevelled or rounded by at most 2 mm, a larger bevel is a chamfer declared by the manufacturer. • Permissible deviations (Table 1, length / width / thickness): class 1 (N) — ± 5 / ± 5 / ± 3 mm; class 2 (P) — for flag work dimensions "< 600" mm ± 2 / ± 2 / ± 3, "> 600" mm ± 3 / ± 3 / ± 3; class 3 (R) — ± 2 / ± 2 / ± 2. Below the table: the difference between any two measurements of length, width and thickness of a single flag "< 3 mm" (the signs "<" and ">" as in the text of the extract). • Difference between diagonals where the diagonal exceeds 300 mm (Table 2): class 1 (J) 5 mm for a diagonal "< 850" mm and 8 mm for "> 850"; class 2 (K) 3 and 6 mm; class 3 (L) 2 and 4 mm. • Flatness and bow of an upper face intended to be plane, where the maximum dimension exceeds 300 mm (Table 3, convex / concave): gauge 300 mm — 1.5 / 1.0 mm; 400 mm — 2.0 / 1.5; 500 mm — 2.5 / 1.5; 800 mm — 4.0 / 2.5. • Weathering resistance (5.3.2): freeze-thaw test according to Annex D or water absorption according to Annex E, with the conformity criteria of 6.3.8.2. Table 4.1: class 1 (A) — no performance measured, class 2 (B) — water absorption "≤ 6 as a mean" (% by mass). Table 4.2: class 3 (D) — mass loss after the freeze-thaw test with salt ≤ 1.0 kg/m² as a mean, no individual value > 1.5 kg/m². The requirements of Table 4.2 apply where specific conditions exist, e.g. frequent contact with de-icing salt under frost; recommendations on classes may be made at national level. • Bending strength (5.3.3): test according to Annex F with the criteria of 6.3.8.3; characteristic bending strength not less than the class value and no individual result below the minimum value (Table 5): class 1 (S) 3.5 / 2.8 MPa, class 2 (T) 4.0 / 3.2 MPa, class 3 (U) 5.0 / 4.0 MPa. Complementary fittings are not tested — they are in the class of the standard flags if they have at least the same concrete strength. • Abrasion resistance (5.3.4): the wide wheel abrasion test (Annex G) is the reference test, the Böhme method (Annex H) the alternative; no individual result shall exceed the required value (Table 6): class 1 (F) no performance measured; class 2 (G) < 26 mm or < 26 000 mm³/5000 mm²; class 3 (H) < 23 mm or < 20 000 mm³/5000 mm²; class 4 (I) < 20 mm or < 18 000 mm³/5000 mm². • Slip resistance (5.3.5): flags have satisfactory slip resistance provided that the whole upper face has not been ground or polished to a very smooth surface; if, in an exceptional case, a value is required — test according to Annex I and declaration of the minimum value. A surface with ridges or grooves that prevent testing with the pendulum is deemed to satisfy the requirements without testing; a flag that is too small is tested on a larger flag with the same finish. The table of contents also lists point 5.3.6 "Breaking load" — the extract no longer covers that point.

CORRIGENDUM EN 1339:2003/AC:2006 (full text of the corrigendum, effective from 17.05.2006). The most important change: in the second row of Table 4.1 the words "as a mean" are deleted, i.e. after the corrigendum the water absorption of class 2 (B) ≤ 6 % applies to every result and not to the mean. The corrigendum also amends 5.3.1 (a complementary fitting that cannot be tested according to the standard is considered to conform to the standard if it has at least the same concrete quality as flags complying with the standard), Table 9 and 6.3.8.1, in E.4.1 replaces "2 000" with "0,2", in F.3 deletes the third dash of the list, in K.3 inserts "n = 2" and "q2 = 0,6" and changes "n = 1" to "n = 16", and removes from C.2.2, C.3.2, C.4.2 and C.5.2 the sentences on checking conformity.

STATUS (state of the PKN card on 10.10.2026). The card of PN-EN 1339:2005 (Polish version) carries no withdrawal label: title "Betonowe płyty brukowe -- Wymagania i metody badań" (Concrete paving flags — Requirements and test methods; our translation), publication 30-03-2005, 74 pages, Sector of Construction and Building Structures, KT 195 Precast Concrete Products, "Replaces: PN-EN 1339:2004 - English version", "Introduces: EN 1339:2003 [IDT]", ICS 93.080.20 and 91.100.30; the field "Additional elements" lists PN-EN 1339:2005/AC:2007 (Polish version). PKN search, query "EN 1339" (10.10.2026): two cards carry the number 1339 — PN-EN 1339:2005 and the withdrawn PN-EN 1339:2004 (English version) replaced by it. In the iTeh catalogue (read on 10.10.2026) EN 1339:2003 has the status "Published", the latest stage of the CEN systematic review is "9093 – Decision to confirm" dated 07.10.2026.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database of 10.10.2026 and current PCA documents read on 10.10.2026). The number 1339 appears in 40 records at 10 laboratories; the standard is present in all 10 current PCA documents, no entry is suspended. The most frequent notations: "PN-EN 1339:2005/AC:2007" (12 records), "PN-EN 1339:2005" (6), "PN-EN 1339:2005+AC:2007" (2), next to them notations with the annex number or without the year. The "Laboratories" tab searches for "PN-EN 1339:" (with a colon) and shows 6 laboratories: AB 535, AB 536, AB 619, AB 1344, AB 1658, AB 1669. Without the colon it would show 19, including nine laboratories with only the standards PN-EN 13398 and PN-EN 13399 (elastic recovery and storage stability of modified bitumens). On the other hand, four laboratories write the number without a colon and are missing from the tab: AB 011 ("PN-EN 1339, załącznik C" etc., in one cell with PN-EN 1338 and PN-EN 1340), AB 023 ("PN-EN 1339 zał. E"), AB 054 ("PN-EN 1339 Załącznik D") and AB 937 ("PN-EN 1339"). Discrepancy between the copy and PCA: AB 023 also has in its PCA document the entry "Płyty chodnikowe E — Nośność i wytrzymałość na zginanie — PN-EN 1339" (paving flags — load-bearing capacity and bending strength), which is missing from the database copy.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (copy and PCA documents). Water absorption — 9 laboratories (AB 011, AB 023 in the range 0.0–20 %, AB 535, AB 536, AB 619, AB 937, AB 1344, AB 1658, AB 1669). Bending strength — 7, three of them with breaking load (AB 011, AB 023 in the force range 1–100 kN, AB 054) and four with bending only (AB 619 in the force range 3–150 kN, AB 1344 5–200 kN, AB 1658 3–150 kN, AB 1669 1–100 kN). Freeze-thaw resistance with de-icing salt — 7 (AB 011, AB 023 as "resistance to weathering" with Annex D, AB 054, AB 535, AB 619, AB 1344, AB 1669). Abrasion resistance — 6 (AB 011 with the wide wheel; AB 023 with the wide wheel 5–30 mm and with the Böhme disc 3000–35 000 mm³/5000 mm²; AB 536 "centre of the abrasion track, radius r = 220 mm"; AB 619, AB 1344, AB 1669). Dimensions — 5 (AB 011, AB 619, AB 1344, AB 1658, AB 1669); slip resistance — 3 (AB 011 as USRV, AB 054, AB 1344); visual aspects — 2 (AB 011, AB 619).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — water absorption after the corrigendum: the 2003 edition required for class 2 (B) ≤ 6 % "as a mean", the corrigendum AC:2006 deletes these words; a series with a mean of 5.8 % and one result of 6.3 % meets the wording before the corrigendum but not the wording after it (numerical example ours). Second — abrasion: the limit is a value that NO individual result may exceed, and the comparison is only possible with the column of the method actually performed (millimetres for the wide wheel, mm³/5000 mm² for Böhme). Third — bending: the requirement has two parts, the characteristic strength of the class and the minimum for each result (e.g. class T: 4.0 and 3.2 MPa); meeting one of them is not enough. Fourth — the dimensions of the flag decide which tables apply at all: the difference between diagonals is checked for a diagonal over 300 mm, flatness — for a maximum dimension over 300 mm and only for a face intended to be plane.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We read the extract of the standard up to 5.3.5.3 with the table of contents and the full text of the corrigendum AC:2006. We do not give the breaking load classes (5.3.6), the requirements for appearance and texture (5.4), the conformity criteria of clause 6 or the course of the tests in Annexes B–J (number of flags, preparation and conditioning, span and loading rate, salt solution and number of cycles, parameters of the wheels and of the abrasive, formulas).

Method principle

A flag is tested in several independent tests according to the normative annexes of PN-EN 1339 and assigned to the classes of clause 5: dimensions according to C (Tables 1–3), freeze-thaw resistance with de-icing salt according to D or water absorption according to E (Tables 4.1 and 4.2), bending strength and breaking load according to F (Table 5: characteristic strength and minimum of an individual result), abrasion with the wide wheel according to G — the reference test — or by the Böhme method according to H (Table 6), slip resistance according to I and visual aspects according to J (EN 1339:2003 with the corrigendum AC:2006). We DO NOT GIVE the course of the tests in the annexes.

Applications

• Concrete paving flags and complementary fittings for trafficked pavements and roof coverings (EN 1339:2003, clause 1); not permeable flags
• Type testing, factory production control, acceptance of a delivered consignment (Annex B) and declaration of product classes
• In the accreditation scopes: 10 laboratories; water absorption — 9, bending — 7, freeze-thaw with salt — 7, abrasion — 6, dimensions — 5, slip resistance — 3, visual aspects — 2

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 1339:2005 + PN-EN 1339:2005/AC:2007 (wersja polska; wprowadza EN 1339:2003 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Betonowe płyty brukowe — Wymagania i metody badań

Title (EN)

Concrete paving flags — Requirements and test methods

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sampling

   Acceptance of a delivered consignment — according to Annex B; type testing and factory production control — according to clause 6. We DO NOT GIVE the number of flags.

2. Dimensions

   According to Annex C; assessment according to Table 1 (deviations), Table 2 (diagonals over 300 mm) and Table 3 (flatness for a dimension over 300 mm, only for a plane face).

3. Weathering resistance

   Water absorption according to Annex E (class 2: ≤ 6 % every result — corrigendum AC:2006) or freeze-thaw resistance with salt according to Annex D (class 3: ≤ 1.0 kg/m² as a mean, individually ≤ 1.5).

4. Bending strength and breaking load

   According to Annex F; characteristic strength and minimum of an individual result from Table 5. We DO NOT GIVE the loading or the formulas.

5. Abrasion, slip resistance, visual aspects

   Wide abrasive wheel (G, reference test) or Böhme (H) — Table 6; USRV according to I where required; visual aspects according to J.

6. Test report

   Classes and results according to the reports of the annexes; when citing, give the edition together with the corrigendum AC. PN-EN 1339:2005 with AC:2007 current (state of the PKN card on 10.10.2026).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Flags are heavy — use lifting equipment and safety footwear when moving them and placing them in the machine
• Cutting specimens and abrasion testing produce dust — respiratory and eye protection
• TECHNICAL NOTE: after the corrigendum AC:2006 the water absorption limit of class 2 applies to every result, not to the mean

Frequently asked questions