The EN 469 standard specifies minimum performance requirements for protective clothing designed to be worn during firefighting activities. This is clothing protecting against heat and flames, mechanical risks and chemical agents, comfortable and visible.
This document covers the general clothing design, the minimum performance levels of the material used, the test methods to be used to determine these performance levels, marking and information supplied by the manufacturer.
The main performance requirements are: flame spread, heat resistance, tensile strength, breathable barrier and moisture barrier, penetration resistance of chemical-liquid substances, visibility material, dimensional change, metal accessories and closing system. According to the standard EN 469, all the materials used for firefighting in the protective clothing must not melt, ignite or shrink more than 5% and all of the equipment such as the zippers should remain functional even if exposed to 180°C. Furthermore, the materials should have a breaking load greater than 450 N and the main seams greater than 225 N. The dimensional change of the fabric materials should not exceed 3% and that of non-fabric materials should not exceed 5%.
EN 469
