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::: EN 14904, performance and marking of SPORTS SURFACES
STANDARDS of Domenico Adelizzi
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Recent changes
in the marking of
basketball courts
offer us a good
opportunity
to look at
the standards for
floor surfaces
in gyms and
indoor stadiums.
The starting point: in 2010 FIP
(the Italian Basketball Federation)
approved some significant
technical changes to be introduced
in the 2010 - 2011 season.
These include, among other things,
changes to how basketball courts
should be marked, especially in the
3-second key and 3-point shooting
areas, the free-throw lines and the
“restricted area” arcs.
The new rules affect all clubs taking
part in professional national
championships, amateur national
and regional championships (men
and women) and all youth championships.
It goes without saying that these
new rules create interesting business
opportunities for sports parquet
producers and for parquet
paint manufacturers, as well as
for companies specialising in restructuring
and/or finishing sports
facilities.
Having mentioned this “opportunity”
for our readers, let’s now
look at sports parquet in detail
and the European technical standards EN 14904: “Surfaces for Sports
Areas - Indoor surfaces for
multi-sports use - Specification”.
Although these standards are not
particularly well-known or widely
adopted, they are crucial when it
comes to designing basketball
courts and those for other sports
(handball, volleyball, five-asidefootball,
etc). These standards are
even more important when one
considers that CE marking for
these sports surfaces has been
mandatory since 2008.
Before going into the details of
these standards, we should point
out that every sport requires a
floor surface with specific technical,
functional, environmental,
comfort and aesthetic requirements
to ensure the sport is
played to be best effect. Wood is
the ideal material to meet the
needs of each different sport, as it
stands up well to physical stress
(as proven by the fact that wood
has been used over the centuries
for theatre stages, gyms and indoor
stadiums).
::: GENERAL REQUISITES OF SPORTS SURFACES
Whatever the sport, the flooring
must be carefully designed (structure
and finish) to reflect its intended
use. Special attention needs to
be paid to the following aspects:
• the sports floor should be large
enough to allow all the activities
expected to take place there;
• the structure should be chosen
and sized to suit the spring (ball
rebound) required of it and the
expected loads;
• all construction details should
be foreseen in detail, especially
the rests and anchors used for
the equipment;
• all the technical properties required
of the materials and correct
installation procedures
should be included in the technical
specifications, including the
stages of preparation, laying and
finishing of the sports flooring.
::: PURPOSE AND APPLICABILITY OF THE STANDARDS
The standards set down all the requirements
for indoor surfaces for
multi-sports use. They describe
the various types of surface, including
the sub-floor layers and final
surface, pre-assemblies, on-site
installation systems and a combination
of both. The standards also
allow for evaluation of the products’
compliance with these and
apply to all sporting activities except
for indoor tennis courts.
::: TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
• Multi-sport facilities. Sports facilities
whose surface is used for more than one specific sport
and which can be also used for
physical education and other sport
activities.
• Area-elastic sports surface. Sports
surface where the application
of a force at a given point
causes deflection in a relatively
large area around the point
where the force is applied.
• Point-elastic sports surface. Sports
surface where the application
of a force at a given point
causes deflection only at the
point where the force is applied
in the immediate vicinity.
• Combined-elastic sports surface.
Area-elastic sports surface with
an upper surface that is point-elastic,
where the application of a
force at a given point causes
both local deflection and in a
relatively wider area.
• Mixed-elastic sports surface. Areaelastic
sports surface with a synthetic
area stiffening element.
::: SAFETY PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
This is a crucial part of the standards
since sports surfaces must
provide a complex reaction to dynamic
loads. The required interacting
components include the
load-deflection, the capacity to
absorb impact and the return of impact energy (for example, the
amount of energy returned to the
athlete from the surface on which
he/she is playing).
A sports surface’s capacity to absorb
impact is an important safety
factor. The specified values are,
therefore, an inevitable compromise
between the basic characteristics
of the floor. Sports surfaces
react differently at different temperatures
and speeds: they become
harder at low temperatures
and softer at higher temperatures.
An important safety and sport
performance requirement is the
degree of grip offered between
the soles of the athlete’s shoes
and the sports surface. Annex A
to the Standards provide information
on the resistance of synthetic
floors to repeated impact: it has
been found that certain synthetic materials may break up after repeated
impact, especially in the
most frequently used areas. Standard
CEN/TS 15122 (currently being
revised) describes a test
method that assesses the capacity
of a sports surface to withstand
repeated impact.
• Friction. When tested using the
method described in EN 13036-4
(dry, at 23 ± 2°C, with CEN rubber),
the mean value of the Pendulum
Test must be between 80
and 110 and no test result
should differ from the mean value
by more than four units.
• Shock absorption. When tested
using the method described in
EN 14808, with a minimum of
four tests plus one test every 500
m2, the mean Force Reduction
must fall within the range 25% - 75% and no single test result
should differ from the mean by
more than ±5 units. These values
are laboratory values; on-site
measurements may be made at
different temperatures and humidity
levels depending on the
actual environmental conditions
of the sports facility (in which
case the surface temperature
and relative humidity should be
recorded in the report). Information
on the shock absorption and
vertical deformation of elastic
floors is provided in Annex B to
the new standards.
• Vertical deformation. When tested
using the method described
in EN 14809, Vertical Deformation
must not be more than 5
mm. Note that, again, the values
are laboratory values; on-site
measurements may be made at
different temperatures and humidity
levels depending on the
actual environmental conditions
of the sports facility. Information
on the shock absorption
and vertical deformation of elastic
floors is provided in Annex B
to the new standards.
::: TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
European standards EN 14904 also
includes the technical performance
requirements that multi-sport
surfaces must satisfy.
• Vertical ball behaviour. When tested
using the method described in
EN 12235 using a basketball with
a minimum of four tests plus one
test every 500 m2, the mean Ball
Rebound height of the ball must be >90% the rebound height on
concrete and no single test result
should differ from the mean by
more than ±3 units.
• Resistance to rolling load. This is
an important property that guarantees
that the surface is not
damaged by equipment or seats
that may be moved along it.
When tested using the method
described in EN 1569, the minimum
Rolling Load Resistance
must be 1,500 N and the maximum
residual indentation must
be 0.5 mm below a straight edge
of 300 mm; there should be no
visible damage after testing.
• Resistance to wear. This is an important
property that guarantees
the expected life of the surface
during use, especially in
heavy-duty areas (e.g. shooting
areas in from the goal or basket)
that tend to lose a certain
amount of material through
abrasion. In the case of synthetic
surfaces, when tested using
the method described in EN ISO
5470-1 (H18 wheels, 1 kg load)
the max Mass Loss after 1,000
cycles must be 1,000 mg. In the
case of coverings and paints applied
during routine servicing,
when tested using the method
described in EN ISO 5470-1
(CS10 wheels, 500 g load), the
max Mass Loss after 1,000 cycles
must be 80 mg.
• Reaction to fire class. When
claiming a specific fire reaction
class, the sports surface floor
must be tested and classed in
accordance with EN 13501-1 and
the resulting class and subclass
must be declared. No tests are
required if no claims are made regarding the fire reaction of the
flooring (e.g. a product or family
of products belonging to class Ffl
is put on the market).
• Formaldehyde emission. If additives
containing formaldehyde are
added to the product during the
production process (e.g. wooden
panels), the product must be tested
and then given one of two
classes: E1 or E2. Note that E1
products can be used without creating
a concentration of formaldehyde
greater than 0.1 < 10-6 mg/kg
(0.1 ppm) in the indoor air. Note
also that the test requirement
does not apply to sports surfaces
when no additives containing
formaldehyde are added to the
product during the production
process or post-processing. These
need not be classed, having not
been tested, but may still be declared
as Class E1 products.
• Content of pentachlorophenol.
Sports surface coverings must
be free of pentachlorophenol
and its derivatives used as components
during the production
process (end product or raw materials).
If tests are required, this
condition is considered satisfied
if the content is less than 0.1%
(mass) using the method described
in Annex C of the standards.
Put briefly, Annex C details
the methods that the test
laboratory should adopt, as well
as stating that the pentachlorophenol
(PCP) must be
extracted using a potassium carbonate
solution and the quantity
analysed pursuant to EN 12673.
• Specular reflectance. This is tested,
when necessary, using the
method described in EN 13745 at an angle of 85°. The mean
Specular Reflectance should be
added to the report.
• Specular gloss. This is tested,
when necessar y, using the
method described in EN ISO
2813 at an angle of incidence of
85°. In the case of matt surfaces
the Specular Gloss must be
<30% and <45% in that of painted
surfaces.
• Residual indentation resistance.
When tested using the method
described in EN 1516, the Residual
Indentation is measured 5
minutes after removing the load
and should be added to the report.
Mean Residual Indentation
is measured 24 hours after removing
the load and should be
<0.5 mm. In the case of elasticpoint
sports surfaces, only the
top surface supported by a rigid
structure needs to be tested.
• Resistance to impact. After conditioning
for 14 days at 50 (±1) °C
and testing adopting the methods
described in EN 1517 at a
test temperature of 10 (±1) °C using
a sensor with 800g mass,
there should be no signs of cracking,
breaking, separation of the
layers or permanent indentation
in the test sample, apart from the
case of wooden sports surfaces
where indentation should be no
greater than 0.5 mm.
• Degree of evenness. This can only
be measured after installation,
as it is a measurement of the
overall construction rather than
a specific propriety of a single
coating component. The Degree
of Evenness is measured across
the playing surface (including
safety and exits areas) by adopting the method described in EN
13036-7. The maximum distance
between the straight edge and
the sports surface must not be
greater than 2 mm (measuring
distance of 0.3 m) or 6 mm (measuring
distance of 3 m).
::: CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
A sports surface must be found to
be compliant with European standards
EN 14904 (including classes)
by means of: initial tests and
factory production controls by
the manufacturer, including product
assessment (as set out in Annex
D to the standards).
• Initial tests. These tests are needed
to prove the product’s compliance
with European standards EN
14904. They may take into consideration
other tests already carried
out in compliance with the standards
(same product, same characteristics,
test method, sampling process, conformity statement
system, etc.). Initial tests must be
carried out before a new type of
product enters production or
whenever a new production
method is introduced (where this
may affect the declared properties).
There is no need to repeat
the product compliance tests if
the manufacturer purchases products
already proven to comply
with the requirements of EN 14904
(e.g. via CE marking) and the manufacturing
process does not adversely
affect their performance.
Manufacturers of sports surfaces
are, however, responsible for
guaranteeing that all the products
used satisfy the required class or
level of performance. Products
may, for the purpose of initial testing
(and factory control tests), be
grouped in families (by characteristics):
the test results for a given
characteristic in one of the products
are deemed representative of
the same characteristic in all the
other products within the same
family. Different families may exist
for different characteristics. Type
tests must be repeated for a specific
characteristic whenever a
change is introduced in the product,
raw material, component supplier
or production process
(based on the family definition)
that may significantly alter one or
more characteristics.
• Conformity sampling, tests and criteria.
The test sample used for
testing must represent the manufacturer’s
normal long-term production.
The conformity criteria
are specified in the safety and
technical requirements. The results
of all type tests must be recorded and kept by the manufacturer
for at least 10 years after
production of the product.
• Factory production control (FPC).
The manufacturer must introduce,
document and manage an
FPC system to guarantee that its
products on the market maintain
the declared performance
characteristics. The FPC system
must include processes, routine
controls and tests and/or assessments,
as well as the use of
the acceptance control test results
for incoming raw materials,
other materials and components
and controls on the equipment,
production process and
the end product. All the elements
and methods required of
an FPC system are set out in Annex
D (see box for summary).
::: MARKING AND LABELLING
Finally, we should remember that CE
marking has been mandatory for
these products since 2008 and so all
the products must comply with European
standard EN 14904:2006. Compliance
must be clearly and indelibly indicated
by the manufacturer using an
adhesive label or packaging. The minimum
information required by law is:
a) Number and year of the European
standard (i.e. EN 14904:2006);
b) Manufacturer or supplier’s identifying
data;
c) Name of the product and lot number
(using a code, where possible).
The requirements of this point are
satisfied when the requirements
under points ZA.1 - ZA.2 - ZA.3 of
standards UNI EN 14904:2006 provide
the same information.
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