🏗️ Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials — PN-EN 13242

Construction PN-EN 13242

Overview

THE SCOPE FROM THE PKN CATALOGUE CARD, IN FULL: "The properties of aggregates obtained by a natural, industrial or recycling process, used for unbound and hydraulically bound materials in civil engineering work and road construction, are specified. 14 terms are defined".

THREE AGGREGATE STANDARDS, THREE DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. The knowledge base now holds the complete set: PN-EN 12620 — aggregates for concrete, PN-EN 13043 — for bituminous mixtures, PN-EN 13242 — for unbound and hydraulically bound materials. The scopes of all three are worded almost identically as to the sources of the material (natural, industrial, recycled), and they differ in the intended use. The consequence is constant and worth repeating: the sentence "the aggregate meets the requirements of the standard" means nothing until it is known WHICH of the three.

WHAT "UNBOUND AND HYDRAULICALLY BOUND" MEANS. An unbound material is aggregate working without a binder — its bearing capacity comes from compaction and the interlocking of the particles; this is how sub-bases and frost protection layers are made. A hydraulically bound material is aggregate with a binder that sets in the presence of water — with cement or lime, for instance. Both groups differ from concrete and from bituminous mixtures, and have in common that the aggregate makes up the greater part of the volume, so its properties govern the behaviour of the layer.

FOURTEEN DEFINITIONS. The card records this number expressly — as with PN-EN 13043, where there are sixteen definitions. With product standards for aggregates a dispute about a result often turns out to be a dispute about a name: what is coarse aggregate, what is fine, what is an unbound mixture. The standard's own vocabulary settles this first, before any figure.

THE +A1 ELEMENT AND THE YEAR OF THE EUROPEAN DOCUMENT. What is in force is PN-EN 13242+A1:2010, implementing EN 13242:2002+A1:2007 — that is, a European document of 2002 with an amendment of 2007, adopted in Poland in 2010. Three different years in one designation; in citing this standard the full form must be given, because "PN-EN 13242:2004" points to the edition before the amendment, and "EN 13242:2002" to the European document, not the Polish one.

PLACE IN THE SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTS. The tests are carried out to the standards of the PN-EN 932 and PN-EN 933 series — the same as for the other aggregates: reduction of samples to PN-EN 932-2, equipment and calibration to PN-EN 932-5, sieves to PN-EN 933-2 — all three have their own entries in this knowledge base.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We do not have the text of the standard — PKN supplies it for a fee (41 pages, KT 108 — the PKN technical committee for Aggregates and Building Stone). We therefore GIVE NEITHER the requirements for any property NOR the content of the fourteen definitions.

REACH OF CITATIONS: ZERO. Reading of 23.09.2026 on the working copy of the accreditation-scope database: the string "EN 13242" does not occur there EVEN ONCE, in any form of the record. Positive control on the same column and the same domain: PN-EN 1097-x — 169 entries, PN-EN 1744-x — 59, PN-EN 933-8 — 46. WHAT THIS ZERO DOES NOT MEAN: it does not result merely from the fact that PN-EN 13242 is a requirements standard — the product standard PN-EN 197-1 (cement) stands in the reference-document field at 4 laboratories in 35 entries (the same copy, 23.09.2026). Why there is zero for PN-EN 13242, we have not established.

Method principle

Aggregate intended for unbound and hydraulically bound materials is described by a set of properties whose requirements are laid down by this product standard together with a vocabulary of fourteen terms of its own. The tests are carried out to the method standards of the PN-EN 932 and PN-EN 933 series, and the results are referred to the requirements proper to the declared use.

Applications

• Aggregates for sub-bases and unbound layers in road construction
• Aggregates for materials bound with a hydraulic binder — stabilisation with cement or lime
• Aggregates for earthworks in civil engineering structures
• Assessment of recycled aggregates intended for structural layers

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 13242+A1:2010 (wersja polska; wprowadza EN 13242:2002+A1:2007 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Kruszywa do niezwiązanych i związanych hydraulicznie materiałów stosowanych w obiektach budowlanych i budownictwie drogowym

Title (EN)

Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in civil engineering work and road construction

Step-by-step procedure

1. Establish the use of the aggregate

   Unbound or hydraulically bound material. For concrete PN-EN 12620 applies, for bituminous mixtures PN-EN 13043.

2. Check the definitions

   The standard gives 14 definitions of its own. Establish whether both sides understand the names in the same way before you start comparing figures.

3. Read the requirements

   WE DO NOT GIVE THE REQUIREMENTS — they are in the text of the standard.

4. Carry out the tests

   Reduction of the sample to PN-EN 932-2, testing to the standards of the PN-EN 933 series, equipment to PN-EN 932-5.

5. Record in the report

   Give the FULL designation: PN-EN 13242+A1:2010, and the use of the aggregate.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Dust is raised in sampling and sieving — with materials containing crystalline silica, respiratory protection is required
• Recycled aggregates may contain foreign contaminants and sharp fragments — gloves are required
• TECHNICAL NOTE: the same aggregate may meet the requirements of one of the three aggregate standards and fail the others

Frequently asked questions