A Critical Examination of the European Standard EN 1504 “Products and Systems for Protection and Repair of Concrete Structures”

The European Standard EN 1504 “Products and systems for protection and repair of concrete structures — Definitions, requirements, quality control and evaluation of conformity” can be considered a real milestone for the companies involved in the rehabilitation of buildings, bridges, piers, pipelines, and other civil or industrial concrete structures. However in some cases the examination and, even more, the practical application of the proposed guidelines are made difficult by a complicated sub-division in principles and methods, and by a confusing and repetitive layout. The paper deals in particular with the principles and methods for the rehabilitation of concrete damage due to reinforcement corrosion, often strictly connected, anyway, to those adopted in order to rehabilitate the concrete itself. Suggestions are given for a possible future update of the Standard, based on the personal experience of the Authors.