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BRITISH STANDARD BS EN 2:1992

Incorporating
Amendment No. 1

Classification of fires

The European Standard EN 2:1992, with the incorporation of

amendment A1 has the status of a British Standard

ICS 13.220.01

12&23<,1*:,7+287%6,3(50,66,21(;&(37$63(50,77('%<&23<5,*+7/$:
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BS EN 2:1992

Cooperating organizations
The European Committee for Standardization (CEN), under whose supervision
this European Standard was prepared, comprises the national standards
organizations of the following countries:

Austria Oesterreichisches Normungsinstitut

Belgium Institut belge de normalisation
Denmark Dansk Standardiseringsraad
Finland Suomen Standardisoimisliito, r.y.
France Association française de normalisation
Germany Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V.
Greece Hellenic Organization for Standardization
Iceland Technological Institute of Iceland
Ireland National Standards Authority of Ireland
Italy Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione
Luxembourg Inspection du Travail et des Mines
Netherlands Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut
Norway Norges Standardiseringsforbund
Portugal Instituto Portuguès da Qualidade
Spain Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación
Sweden Standardiseringskommissionen i Sverige
Switzerland Association suisse de normalisation
United Kingdom British Standards Institution

This British Standard, having

been prepared under the
direction of the Fire Standards
Policy Committee, was
published under the authority
of the Standards Board and
comes into effect on
15 December 1992

© BSI 3 November 2004 Amendments issued since publication

Amd. No. Date Comments

The following BSI references
relate to the work on this 15415 3 November 2004 Change to Clause 2
standard:
Committee reference FSM/2
Special announcement in
BSI News December 1992

ISBN 0 580 21356 0

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BS EN 2:1992

Contents
Page
Cooperating organizations Inside front cover
National foreword ii
Foreword 2
Text of EN 2 3
National annex NA (informative) Committees responsible 4

© BSI 3 November 2004 i

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BS EN 2:1992

National foreword

This British Standard has been prepared under the direction of the Fire
Standards Policy Committee and it is the English language version of EN 2:1992
Classification of fires, including amendment A1:2004, published by the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN). EN 2 was produced as a result of
international discussions in which the United Kingdom took an active part.
BS EN 2:1992 supersedes BS 4547:1972, which is withdrawn and from which
there are no technical differences.
This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a
contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.
Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity
from legal obligations.

Summary of pages
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i and ii,
the EN title page, pages 2 to 4 and a back cover.
The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the
document was last issued.

ii © BSI 3 November 2004

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EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 2
October 1992
NORME EUROPÉENNE
+ A1
EUROPÄISCHE NORM October 2004

ICS 13.220.01 Replaces EN 2:1972

UDC 614.814.41
Descriptors: Classification, fires, fire-fighting, vocabulary

English version

Classification of fires
(includes amendment A1:2004)

Classes de feux Brandklassen

(inclut l’amendement A1:2004) (enthält Änderung A1:2004)

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 21 October 1992;

amendment A1 was approved by CEN on 8 August 2004. 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 Central Secretariat 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
Central Secretariat has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and United Kingdom.

CEN
European Committee for Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation
Europäisches Komitee für Normung

Central Secretariat: rue de Stassart 36, B-1050 Brussels

© 2004 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national
Members.
Ref. No. EN 2:1992 + A1:2004 E
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EN 2:1992

Foreword Contents
This classification of fires was first established by Page
CEN in 1968 in the Unification Document Foreword 2
CENTRI 2/U1. It was subsequently submitted to
Introduction 3
ballot in November 1971 with a view to its
translation into a European Standard, and adopted 1 Scope 3
by CEN on 21 June 1972. On 19 March 1984 CEN 2 Definition and designation of
adopted an amendment to EN 2 consisting of an classes of fires 3
addition of an introduction which has been
extracted in whole from ISO 3941 (1977). This
amendment was considered useful and was
requested by CEN/TC 70 at its meeting
on 25/26 March 1982 in Milan, as certain countries
use or have used a specific class of fire to designate
fires in live electrical installations.
At its meeting held in Paris on 29/30 January 1992
CEN/TC 70 has reconfirmed EN 2 without
modifications.
This version supersedes EN 2:1972.
In accordance with the Common CEN/CENELEC
Internal Regulations the following countries are
bound to implement this European Standard:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
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
April 1993, and conflicting national standards shall
be withdrawn at the latest by April 1993.

Foreword to amendment A1
This document (EN 2:1992/A1:2004) has been
prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 070,
Manual means of fire fighting equipment, the
Secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This amendment to the European Standard
EN 2:1992 shall be given the status of a national
standard, either by publication of an identical text
or by endorsement, at the latest by April 2005, and
conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn
at the latest by April 2005.
According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal
Regulations, the national standards organizations
of the following countries are bound to implement
this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
United Kingdom.

2 © BSI 3 November 2004

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EN 2:1992

Introduction
This standard defines classes of fires according to the material undergoing combustion.
In consequence it does not define a particular class of fire involving an electrical risk.

1 Scope
The present document classifies in four categories the different kinds of fires which can be defined in terms
of the nature of the fuel. Such a classification is particularly useful in the context of fire fighting by means
of an extinguisher.

2 Definition and designation of classes of fires

The following designations are for the purpose of classifying fires of different natures and of simplifying
spoken and written reference to them:

Class A: fires involving solid materials, usually of an organic nature, in which combustion normally
takes places with the formation of glowing embers.
Class B: fires involving liquids or liquefiable solids.
Class C: fires involving gases.
Class D: fires involving metals.
Class F: fires involving cooking media (vegetable or animal oils and fats) in cooking appliances.

© BSI 3 November 2004 3

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EN 2:1992

National annex NA (informative)

Committees responsible
The United Kingdom participation in the preparation of this European Standard was entrusted by the Fire
Standards Policy Committee (FSM/-) to Technical Committee FSM/2, upon which the following bodies were
represented:

Association of Metropolitan Authorities

British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association
British Fire Consortium
British Fire Services’ Association
British Telecommunications plc
Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers’ Association
Consumer Policy Committee of BSI
Department of the Environment (the Buying Agency)
Department of Transport (Marine Directorate)
Fire Extinguishing Trades Association
Health and Safety Executive
Home Office
Independent Fire Equipment Distributors’ Association
Institution of Fire Engineers
London Fire and Civil Defence Authority
London Regional Transport
Loss Prevention Council
Ministry of Defence
National Association of Fire Officers
Society of Chemical Industry
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited

4 © BSI 3 November 2004

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blank
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BS EN 2:1992

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