As a result of an administrative change, the EN 131 standard for ladders (published in the UK as BS EN 131) parts: 1,2,3,4 and 6, have been amended by CEN – the European organisation responsible for standards.

The amendment removes advisory text regarding Sweden’s legal requirements for portable ladders, listed in the “A-Deviations” section of the standard.

This change makes no difference to the actual requirements of the EN 131 standard.

But it does mean that those parts of EN 131 will now be published with a new date for the purpose of document control. For example:

• EN 131 Part 1 Ladders. Terms, types, functional sizes was previously numbered EN 131-1:2015+A1:2019
• Following the change, EN 131 Part 1 will now have a new number EN 131-1:2015+A2:2025

The previous documents will now be shown by standards bodies and standards suppliers as “Withdrawn” although the only change in the new document is the removal of the text regarding the Swedish legal requirements.

Next steps:

• There will be a change over period during which ladder manufacturers/suppliers will update their certification and change their ladder labels and documentation to reflect the amendment and the new numbers.
• Standards are not retrospective. You can continue to use existing ladders that conformed to the previous withdrawn version of the standard – nothing has actually changed about the ladders.

What do you need to do?

• Ladder manufacturers: Contact your product certification bodies regarding the change.
• Ladder suppliers including hire companies: Check your purchasing specifications are updated to reflect the latest versions of the different parts of the standard – see table below.
• Ladder purchasers/specifiers: Check your purchasing specifications are updated to reflect the latest versions of the different parts of the standard – see table below.
• Regulators: Be aware of the change and update any documentation necessary – see table below.

For information:

• EN131 -7 the standard for Mobile ladders with platform (AKA “Warehouse steps”) is not affected by this change as there are no Swedish A deviations in that part of the standard. So, it remains as EN 131-7:2013.
• There is no EN 131-5 as it’s not yet completed.

For a complete list of current and withdrawn standards, visit our Ladder Standards page.