🏗️ Assessment and verification of constancy of performance of cement (AVCP) — PN-EN 197-2

Construction PN-EN 197-2

Overview

TWO PARTS, TWO DIFFERENT QUESTIONS. PN-EN 197-1 (a separate entry in this knowledge base) defines cements and gives the requirements for them — it answers the question "what is the product to be". PN-EN 197-2 answers the question "how do we know it constantly is". The separation is not a formality: a laboratory testing cement usually meets part 1, but it is part 2 that determines how often to test, who is to test and what to do when a result falls outside a requirement.

THE SCOPE FROM THE PKN CATALOGUE CARD, QUOTED VERBATIM: "This document specifies the system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP) of cements, including certification of constancy of performance. The document gives the technical rules of factory production control, describes further testing of samples taken at the production plant (autocontrol testing) and the assessment of cement performance, the initial inspection of the production plant and of factory production control, the continuation of surveillance, the assessment and evaluation of factory production control and of control testing of samples. Rules for the handling of non-conformities and requirements concerning depots are also given [the card is ambiguous here: the Polish word may mean storage depots or compositions — the entry does not settle it, as we do not have the text of the standard]. In this document the word 'cement' is used both with reference to common cements as defined in EN 197-1 and with reference to other cements and binders subject to certification, if this document is invoked in the relevant product standards. Cement as above, produced in a given plant, is assigned to a given type and a given strength class, defined and specified in the relevant product standard. [...] This document is related to the ZA Annexes of the European Standards on cements and binders, that is EN 197-1, EN 14216, EN 14647, EN 413-1, EN 15743. NOTE The reason for drawing up this separate document is that the provisions given in it apply to various products covered by various European Standards."

FIVE PRODUCT STANDARDS NAMED EXPRESSLY. The scope does not stop at the generality "other cements and binders" — it lists the documents with whose ZA Annexes this system is connected: EN 197-1 (common cements), EN 14216, EN 14647, EN 413-1 and EN 15743. The list is closed and verifiable, so the question "is my product subject to this system" has an answer in the scope itself and not in guesswork. The NOTE at the end gives at the same time the reason for the document being separate: its provisions apply to various products described in various standards — and that is precisely why they were not placed in part 1.

A SCOPE WIDER THAN COMMON CEMENTS. The last sentence of the quotation settles something easily overlooked: the system described in this standard concerns not only the cements of EN 197-1 but also OTHER cements and binders — provided that their own product standard invokes this document. Citing PN-EN 197-2 in the documentation of a binder that is not a common cement may therefore be correct; what settles the matter is the product standard of that binder, not the name of the material.

SEVEN ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM. The scope lists them in order: the technical rules of factory production control; autocontrol testing of samples taken at the plant; assessment of performance; initial inspection of the plant and of production control; continuation of surveillance; assessment and evaluation of production control and of control testing; rules for the handling of non-conformities. To these are added the requirements concerning depots. It is therefore a complete cycle of supervision, not a single procedure — and that is why a single test commissioned by a purchaser neither replaces this system nor undermines it.

"CONSTANCY OF PERFORMANCE" — A NOTION THAT IS NOT THE SAME AS "CONFORMITY". What is assessed is not a single batch but the plant's ability to maintain the properties over time. Hence the emphasis on production control, inspections and continuous surveillance. A certificate issued in this system speaks about PRODUCTION and not about a particular bag of cement — and that is a difference which is sometimes a source of misunderstanding in complaints.

WHY THE "LABORATORIES" TAB IS EMPTY AT THIS ENTRY (23.09.2026). Measurement on the copy of the accreditation scopes (all records of the number counted): PN-EN 197-2 occurs neither in the reference-document field, nor in the test object, nor in the test name, nor in the search field — zero in each of the four. Positive control in the same domain: PN-EN 196-1 (methods of testing cement, part 1) — 17 laboratories, 46 entries. Moreover, the zero does not result from the fact that the 197 family describes products: part 1 stands in the scopes at 4 laboratories in 35 entries — in tests of cement constituents such as fly ash and limestone. Part 2 — according to the PKN card (read on 23.09.2026) — is a document in which "the system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance (AVCP) of cements is specified"; the card also lists in it "further testing of samples taken at the production plant (autocontrol testing)" and the assessment of "control testing of samples". So tests are part of its content; why no laboratory enters it into its scope, we have not established.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We do not have the text of the standard — PKN supplies it for a fee (24 pages, KT 196 — the PKN technical committee for Cement and Lime). We therefore GIVE NEITHER the frequency of autocontrol testing, NOR the number of samples, NOR the statistical criteria of assessment, NOR the details of the procedure on non-conformity.

Method principle

Assessment and verification of constancy of performance rests on three pillars: factory production control run by the manufacturer, testing of samples taken at the plant, and surveillance exercised from outside — from the initial inspection to continuous surveillance. What is assessed is the plant's ability to maintain the properties of the product over time, not the conformity of a single batch.

Applications

• The system of supervision over cement production — the basis of certification of constancy of performance
• Factory production control and autocontrol testing in cement works
• Inspections and surveillance carried out by certification bodies
• Assessment of binders other than common cements, where their product standard invokes this document

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 197-2:2020-09 (wersja polska; wprowadza EN 197-2:2020 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Cement -- Część 2: Ocena i weryfikacja stałości właściwości użytkowych

Title (EN)

Cement — Part 2: Assessment and verification of constancy of performance

Step-by-step procedure

1. Establish whether the product is subject to this system

   Cements from EN 197-1 — yes. Other cements and binders — only if their product standard invokes this document.

2. Factory production control

   The technical rules are set by the standard. It is an obligation of the manufacturer, not of an external laboratory.

3. Autocontrol testing

   On samples taken at the plant, to PN-EN 196-7 and the methods of the PN-EN 196 series. WE DO NOT GIVE THE FREQUENCY — it is in the text of the standard.

4. Inspection and external surveillance

   Initial inspection of the plant and of production control, then continuous surveillance together with assessment and evaluation.

5. Handling of a non-conformity

   The rules are part of the standard. A single result outside a requirement triggers a procedure, not an automatic judgement on the product.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Cement is strongly alkaline — it causes burns to the skin and damage to the conjunctiva
• Sampling at a production plant: work in dust, near equipment conveying bulk materials
• TECHNICAL NOTE: a certificate issued in this system concerns production and its constancy, not a particular delivery

Frequently asked questions