Section 1 General
1.1 Scope
1.1.1 Scope of Eurocode 7
(1) EN 1997 is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1990:2002, which establishes the principles and requirements for safety and serviceability, describes the basis of design and verification and gives guidelines for related aspects of structural reliability.
(2) EN 1997 is intended to be applied to the geotechnical aspects of the design of buildings and civil engineering works. It is subdivided into various separate parts (see 1.1.2).
(3) EN 1997 is concerned with the requirements for strength, stability, serviceability and durability of structures. Other requirements, e.g. concerning thermal or sound insulation, are not considered.
(4) Numerical values of actions on buildings and civil engineering works to be taken into account in design are provided in EN 1991 for the various types of construction. Actions imposed by the ground, such as earth pressures, shall be calculated according to the rules of EN 1997.
(5) Separate European Standards are intended to be used to treat matters of execution and workmanship. They are denoted in the relevant sections.
(6) In EN 1997 execution is covered to the extent that is necessary to conform to the assumptions of the design rules.
(7) EN 1997 does not cover the special requirements of seismic design. EN 1998 provides additional rules for geotechnical seismic design, which complete or adapt the rules of this standard.
1.1.2 Scope of EN 1997-2
(1) EN 1997-2 is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1997-1 and provides rules supplementary to EN 1997-1 related to:
- planning and reporting of ground investigations;
- general requirements for a number of commonly used laboratory and field tests;
- interpretation and evaluation of test results;
- derivation of values of geotechnical parameters and coefficients.
In addition, examples of the application of field test results to design are given.
NOTE Establishment of characteristic values is covered in EN 1997-1.
(2) This document gives no specific provisions for environmental ground investigations.
(3) Only commonly used geotechnical laboratory and field tests are covered in this standard. These were selected on the basis of their importance in geotechnical practice, availability in commercial geotechnical laboratories and existence of an accepted testing procedure in Europe. The laboratory tests on soils are mainly applicable to saturated soils.
NOTE It is expected that updates of the present standard will gradually include laboratory and field tests covering additional aspects of soil and rock behaviour.
(4) The provisions of this standard apply primarily to projects of geotechnical category 2, as defined in 2.1 of EN 1997-1:2004. The ground investigation requirements for category 1 projects are normally limited as the verifications often will be based on local experience. For geotechnical category 3 projects, the amount of investigations required will normally be at least the same as indicated for geotechnical category 2 projects in the following sections. Additional investigations and more advanced tests, related to the circumstances that place a project in geotechnical category 3, may be necessary.
(5) The derivation of parameter values is dedicated primarily to the design of pile and spread foundations based on field testing, as detailed in Annexes D, E, F and G of EN 1997-1:2004.
1.2 Normative references
(1) The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of this European Standard. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these publications do not apply. However, parties to agreements based on this European Standard are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated below. For undated references, the last edition of the normative document referred to applies.
EN 1990:2002 Eurocode — Basis of structural design
EN 1997-1:2004 Eurocode 7 — Geotechnical design — Part 1: General rules
EN ISO 14688-1 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Identification and classification of soil — Part 1: Identification and description
EN ISO 14688-2 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Identification and classification of soil — Part 2: Classification principles
EN ISO 14689-1 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Identification and classification of rock – Part 1: Identification and description
EN ISO 22475-15 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Sampling by drilling and excavation and groundwater measurements — Part 1: Technical principles of execution
EN ISO 22476-15Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 1: Electrical cone and piezocone penetration tests 
EN ISO 22476-2 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 2: Dynamic probing
EN ISO 22476-3 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 3: Standard penetration test
EN ISO 22476-45Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 4: Ménard pressuremeter test
EN ISO 22476-55Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 5: Flexible dilatometer test
EN ISO 22476-66 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 6: Self boring pressuremeter test
EN ISO 22476-76 Geotechnical investigation and testing – Field testing - Pan 7: Borehole jack test
EN ISO 22476-86 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 8: Full displacement pressuremeter test
EN ISO 22476-96 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 9: Field vane test
EN ISO 22476-12 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 12: Mechanical CPT
EN ISO 22476-136 Geotechnical investigation and testing — Field testing — Part 13: Plate hading rest
NOTE The Bibliography presents a number of CEN ISO Technical Specifications (CEN ISO/TS), giving information on procedures, equipment, evaluation and presentation for some field and laboratory tests. These technical specifications may become European/ISO standards in due time. The National Standards Body may decide to keep its national standard in Force during the lifetime of a CEN ISO/TS. National Annexes to EN 1997-2 may give information regarding national practise involved.
