🏗️ Testing of operating forces of hinged and sliding pedestrian doors — the smallest weight closing the leaf to the latched position (dynamic closing force), force and torque to release the latch, lock and unlock with a key or handle, the minimum force to commence and maintain motion of the leaf; average of three tests, PN-EN 12046-2

Construction PN-EN 12046-2

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN catalogue card of PN-EN 12046-2:2025-09 (English version), in full (our translation of the Polish text on the card): “This document describes hinged and sliding doors with latching elements (e.g. latches, bolts) intended for pedestrians. It defines test methods to determine the forces to open/close doors and to engage/release and lock/unlock the hardware using a key or handle. The methods apply only to manually operated doorsets. Doorsets may be equipped with: — emergency or panic exit devices; — self-closing devices. NOTE The operation of some windows involves latching elements (e.g. latches, bolts), and such solutions may be tested in accordance with this document. Throughout the text, where the terms »door leaf«/»door leaves« are used, they may also be interpreted as »window frames«/»window sashes«”. We read the text of the standard in two samples. The sample of SIST EN 12046-2:2025 contains only the title page of EN 12046-2:2025 (April 2025, approved by CEN on 2 March 2025, “supersedes EN 12046-2:2000”) — we do not have the content of the 2025 edition. The sample of SIST EN 12046-2:2001 contains a scan of EN 12046-2:2000 (February 2000) from the title page through the table of contents, foreword and Clauses 1–10 to the end of the test report; only the informative Annexes A and B (typical test set-ups for hinged and sliding doors) are missing. All values and steps below come from the 2000 edition.

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF EN 12046-2:2000 (foreword, Clauses 1–10). The standard was prepared by CEN/TC 33 “Doors, windows, shutters, building hardware and curtain walling” (secretariat AFNOR); it is one in a series of standards for doors. Scope (1): hinged/pivoted and sliding doorsets with latches, for pedestrian use; test methods to determine the forces to open/close doors and to engage/release and lock/unlock the hardware using a key or handle; only manually operated doorsets; measurement of forces for doorsets with self-closing devices engaged is excluded from this test method, and it is not applicable to doorsets with special hardware, e.g. emergency exit devices; the tests apply to doorsets of any material; note — the operation of some windows involves latches and they may be tested according to this standard. References (2): prEN 12519:1996 (doors and windows — terminology). Definition (3.1): attachment point — a point adjacent to a single handle; with more than one handle, a point midway between the extreme handle positions. Principle (4): measuring the minimum force or torque required to engage or disengage the hardware (locks, handles etc.), commence opening and complete closing of the door leaf, sash or casement to the latched position or engagement of any safety device. Apparatus (5): a support frame into which the specimen is mounted using the fixing systems and devices provided or described by the manufacturer — its construction and stiffness shall not influence the result; means for applying forces in increments not exceeding 1,0 N, uniformly and without shock; weights and pulleys or apparatus other than a spring mechanism with which the force or torque can be smoothly applied, with measuring and recording equipment accurate to 5 %. With weights (5.1): weights on a cord over a pulley; the diameter, stiffness and weight of the cord shall not significantly influence the result; forces are applied in increments without shock or gradually increased to the maximum in not less than 1 min. Actuator and recorder (5.2): a torque meter or other device measuring torque or linear force within ± 5 %, with an attachment to the hardware (handle, key) ensuring correct alignment of the forces; the connection shall not damage the specimen or affect its performance. Specimen (6): fixed as in the works, without twist or bends, in fully operable condition; time for the specimen to reach the temperature of the test environment; testing at (10–30) °C and (25–75) % relative humidity. Procedure (7): tests on the specimen as received, immediately preceded by manual operation of all moving parts five times. Dynamic closing force (7.1): the cord is fastened to the attachment point, led over the pulley and loaded; the weight shall hang freely when the leaf is closed; a hinged or pivoted leaf is opened to the distance that raises the weight 200 mm, a sliding one 100 mm plus the distance required to engage any safety device; after releasing the leaf from this position, the minimum weight that engages the latch or safety device is determined; opening and closing are performed three times and averaged. Force and torque for operating the hardware (7.2): the minimum force or torque to release the latch, lock and unlock is applied and recorded; each test three times, average result. Commencing and maintaining motion (7.3): linear actuator or weight and pulley; minimum force to commence and maintain motion, three times, average. Sequence (8.1, without self-closing devices): dynamic closing (7.1), operating the lock — locking, unlocking, unlatching (7.2), commencing motion (7.3); (8.2, with self-closing devices): device engaged — minimum forces or torques to operate the hardware (7.2) and minimum force to fully open (7.3), device disengaged — sequence 8.1. Expression of results (9): the separate results and final values (averaged, to two significant figures) are recorded; forces in newtons (N), torques in newton metres (Nm). Test report (10): among others reference to the standard, testing institute and client, test procedures including storage, conditioning and mounting, description and drawings of the specimen, glazing or infilling, results (average for each load in N or torque in Nm), product designation, observations on the condition of the specimen, dates of test and report.

STATUS (catalogue cards as of 03.10.2026). The card of PN-EN 12046-2:2025-09 (English version, published 23-09-2025, 19 pages, price group K) has no “Withdrawn” header: Construction Sector, KT 169 Windows, Doors, Shutters and Hardware, ICS 91.060.50, “Introduces: EN 12046-2:2025 [IDT]”, “Replaces: PN-EN 12046-2:2001 — Polish version”. The card of PN-EN 12046-2:2001 (Polish version, 10 pages) has the header “Withdrawn”: withdrawal date 23-09-2025, “Replaced by: PN-EN 12046-2:2025-09”; it introduced EN 12046-2:2000 [IDT] and replaced PN-B-06078:1987. What changed for the result: according to the “Scope” field of the 2025-09 card, the 2025 edition covers doorsets with emergency or panic exit devices and with self-closing devices, which Clause 1 of the 2000 edition excluded from the scope (although its Clause 8.2 gives the test sequence for specimens with self-closing devices); we do not know other changes — in apparatus, number of tests or weight lift height — because we have not read the content of the 2025 edition.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17.09.2026, read 03.10.2026). The number 12046-2 appears in 11 records at 7 laboratories: AB 014, AB 023, AB 661, AB 818, AB 1054, AB 1596, AB 1671. In the current scopes on the PCA website (read 03.10.2026, issues from 16.07.2025 to 02.09.2026): AB 1671 gives the 2025-09 edition, AB 661 and AB 818 — the withdrawn 2001 edition, AB 014, AB 023, AB 1054 and AB 1596 — the designation alone without date. The “Laboratories” tab (“PN-EN 12046-2”) shows all 7 laboratories; checked with the tab query on the production server labcoda.pl on 03.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (items in PCA scopes). “Operating forces” of doors, doorsets, leaves and frames, including single-leaf hinged doors up to 1350 × 2550 mm (AB 661: (4–100) N and (1–10) Nm). Ranges: AB 014 — dynamic closing force (0–250) N, commencing and maintaining motion (0–250) N, key operation (−30–30) Nm; AB 1671 — (1–200) N and (0,3–30) Nm, “measurement of the dynamic closing force by the weight method” (likewise AB 1054); AB 023 — forces up to (0–5000) N and torque (0–350) Nm. In the same items it is accompanied by PN-EN 16361 (AB 023) and PN-EN 12217 (AB 1596), and in neighbouring items — “self-closing” according to PN-EN 16034 and resistance to vertical load, static torsion and soft body impact according to PN-EN 947, PN-EN 948 and PN-EN 949.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. Preparation: a specimen mounted with twist or bending or in a frame that is too flexible gives different forces than in the works — mounting as in the works and a frame that does not influence the result (5, 6); omitting the five-fold operation of moving parts before testing changes the first measurements (7). Applying force: jerking instead of increments not exceeding 1,0 N without shock, or increasing the force to the maximum in less than 1 min, do not comply with the conditions of 5 and 5.1, and a spring mechanism is excluded — a result obtained otherwise is not the minimum force in the sense of the standard. Dynamic closing force: the weight lift height — 200 mm for hinged doors and 100 mm plus the safety device travel for sliding doors — is a test condition; at a different height the determined “minimum weight” is not comparable with the standard result (7.1). Attachment point: with several handles, the cord is attached midway between the extreme handles (3.1). Edition: doorsets with self-closing devices and panic exit devices are within the scope of the 2025 edition, but were excluded from the scope of the 2000 edition — a result for such doors stated “according to PN-EN 12046-2:2001” cites a standard whose scope did not cover them. Result: the final value is the average of three tests rounded to two significant figures (9) — comparison with a requirement concerns this average, not a single result.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We do not have the content of the 2025 edition (except the title page and the “Scope” field of the card) or Annexes A and B of the 2000 edition — so we do not give the test conditions for doors with panic exit devices and self-closing devices according to the 2025 edition, any changed values or drawings of the set-ups; the 2000 edition, read in full except the annexes, contains no requirements or classes of operating forces — only the test method — so we do not give them here either.

Method principle

On the specimen mounted as in the works, after operating the moving parts five times, the smallest forces and torques needed to operate the door are measured: with a weight on a cord over a pulley — the smallest weight that closes the released leaf to the latched position (dynamic closing force), with a torque or force meter — the force or torque to release the latch, lock and unlock, with an actuator or weight — the force to commence and maintain motion; each measurement is made three times and the result is the average in N or Nm.

Applications

• Hinged, pivoted and sliding pedestrian doors with latches and locks, manually operated — of any material; 7 laboratories in PCA scopes
• Doors with emergency or panic exit devices and with self-closing devices — within the scope of the 2025 edition
• Windows with latching elements (latches, bolts) — according to the note in the scope of the standard
• Tests cited in PCA scopes together with PN-EN 16361 and PN-EN 12217

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 12046-2:2025-09

Title (PL)

Siły operacyjne — Metoda badania — Część 2: Drzwi

Title (EN)

Operating forces — Test method — Part 2: Doors

Step-by-step procedure

1. Specimen and conditions

   Mount in the frame as in the works, without twist, fully operable; equalize temperature; (10–30) °C, (25–75) % RH. PN-EN 12046-2:2025-09 current, 2001 edition withdrawn 23-09-2025 (PKN catalogue cards as of 03.10.2026); steps according to the 2000 edition.

2. Preparation

   Operate all moving parts manually five times; establish the attachment point (with one handle — next to it, with several — midway between the extreme ones).

3. Dynamic closing

   Cord from the attachment point over the pulley to the weight; open the leaf so as to raise the weight by 200 mm (hinged) or 100 mm + device travel (sliding), release and determine the smallest weight latching the latch; three times, average.

4. Hardware and motion

   Minimum force or torque to release the latch, lock and unlock; minimum force to commence and maintain motion; each three times, average; with a self-closing device, sequence according to 8.2.

5. Result and report

   Single results and averages to two significant figures, forces in N, torques in Nm; report with description of specimen, mounting, glazing and observations of condition.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Falling weights and a closing leaf can crush — keep hands away from the zone under the weight and from the closing edge; the part of the standard we read contains no separate safety requirements
• Heavy leaves and support frames — mounting and handling with lifting equipment

Frequently asked questions