1.1.1 Scope of EN 1997
(1) EN 1997 is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1990:2002, which establishes the
principles and requirements for safety and serviceability, describes the basis of design and
verification and gives guidelines for related aspects of structural reliability.
(2) EN 1997 is intended to be applied to the geotechnical aspects of the design of buildings
and civil engineering works. It is subdivided into various separate parts (see 1.1.2 and 1.1.3).
(3) EN 1997 is concerned with the requirements for strength, stability, serviceability and
durability of structures. Other requirements, e.g. concerning thermal or sound insulation, are
not considered.
(4) Numerical values of actions on buildings and civil engineering works to be taken into
account in design are provided in EN 1991 for the various types of construction. Actions
imposed by the ground, such as earth pressures, shall be calculated according to the rules of
EN 1997.
(5) Separate European Standards are intended to be used to treat matters of execution and
workmanship. They are denoted in the relevant sections.
(6) In EN 1997 execution is covered to the extent that is necessary to comply with the
assumptions of the design rules.
(7) EN 1997 does not cover the special requirements of seismic design. EN 1998 provides
additional rules for geotechnical seismic design, which complete or adapt the rules of this
Standard.
1.1.2 Scope of EN 1997-1
(1) EN 1997-1 is intended to be used as a general basis for the geotechnical aspects of the
design of buildings and civil engineering works.
(2) The following subjects are dealt with in EN 1997-1:
Section 1: General
Section 2: Basis of geotechnical design
Section 3: Geotechnical data
Section 4: Supervision of construction, monitoring and maintenance
Section 5: Fill, dewatering, ground improvement and reinforcement
Section 6: Spread foundations
Section 7: Pile foundations
Section 8: Anchorages
Section 9: Retaining structures
Section 10: Hydraulic failure
Section 11: Overall stability
Section 12: Embankments
(3) EN 1997-1 is accompanied by Annexes A to J, which provide:
-- in A: recommended partial safety factor values; different values of the partial factors may be
set by the National annex;
-- in B to J: supplementary informative guidance such as internationally applied calculation
methods.
1.1.3 Further Parts of EN 1997
(1) EN 1997-1 is supplemented by EN 1997-2 that provides requirements for the performance
and evaluation of field and laboratory testing.