ö NORM

EN 13948
Edition: 2008-01-01

Flexible sheets for waterproof¡ng Bitumen, plastic

-
and rubber sheets for roof waterproofing
Determination of resistance to root penetration

Abdichtungsbahnen Bitumen-, Kunststoff- und Elastomerbahnen für

Dachabdichtungen
- Bestimmung des Widerstandes gegen Wuzelpenetration
-
Feuilles souples d'étanchéité Feuilles d'étanchéité de toiture bitumineuses,
plastique et élastomères
-
Détermination de la résistance à la pénétration des
racines
-

FreþexenTPIar
zïr persönlichen trnformation
Weitergabe nicht gestattet

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 EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 13948
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPAISCHE NORM June 2007

lcs 91.100.50

English Version

Flexible sheets for waterproofing - Bitumen, plastic and rubber

sheets for roof waterproofing - Determination of resistance to
root penetration

Feuilles souples d'étanchéité - Feuilles d'étanchéité de Abdichtungsbahnen - Bitumen-, Kunststotf- und

toiture, bitumineuses, plastiques et élastomères - Elastomerbahnen für Dachabd¡chtungen - Bestimmung des
Détermination de la résistance à la oénétration des racines Widerstandes gegen Wuzelpenetration

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 23 May 2007.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CENiCENELEC lntemal Regulat¡ons which st¡pulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date l¡sts and bibliographical references conceming such national
standards may be obta¡ned on application to the CEN Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into ¡ts own language and notified to the CEN Management Centre has the same status as the
official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Bepublic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, lceland, lreland, ltaly, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDTATION

courrÉ eunopÉBtl DE NORMALISATIoN
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NoRMUNG

Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 B-1050 Brussels

@ 2007 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 13948:2007: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

Foreword
This document (EN 13948:2007) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 254 "Flexible sheets
for waterproofing", the secretariat of which is held by BSl.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
texl or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2007, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn
at the latest by December 2007.

According to the CEN/CENELEC lnternal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, lceland, lreland, ltaly, Latvia,
Lithuanía, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Nonruay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

I Scope
This European Standard specifies a method to determine the resistance of roof waterproofing sheets to root
penetration.

This European Standard relates exclusively to sheets. lt is not possible to test a system comprising several
different sheets.

This European Standard does not contain any evaluation of the sheet to be tested in respect of its
environmental requirements.

2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.

EN 13037, Soil improvers and growing media Determination of pH

-
EN 13038, Soil improvers and growing media Determination of electrical conductivity
-
EN 13651 , Soil improvers and growing media Extraction of calcium chloride/DTPA (CAT) soluble nutrients
-

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1
root penetration
roots that have grown into and/or through the surface or joints of a sheet under test where the underground
parts of the plants have actively created cavities and thus damaged the sheet

4 Principle
The protection against root penetration of a sheet is tested in containers where the sheet is under exposure to
roots under specified conditions.

The test specimens of the sheet are installed in 6 test containers. The sheet shall have four wall corner joints,
two base corner joints and one central T joint (see Figure 2). Additionally there shall be two control containers
without sheets providing a comparison of the vitality of the plants in the test and control containers throughout
the whole test oeriod.

The containers receive a layer of growing substrate and a dense covering of vegetation. This produces a high
growing pressure from the roots, emphasised by a limited amount of fertiliser and a moderate watering.

The test and control containers are exposed in a climate-controlled greenhouse, in which the parameters
having an influence on the growing of the plants can be controlled.

The growing period is 2 years as this period is the minimum time necessary to obtain reliable results.
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

Dimemsions in millimeters

Figure 1 Gonstruction of container

-
5.3 Moisture layer

A layer of coarse mineral granulates shall be placed on the transparent bases of the containers. lt shall be
permanently kept moist to encourage the roots to draw down onto the transparent base, in order to observe
any early penetration of the roots

This layer shall be composed of expanded slate/clay (grain fraction 8/16) of a quality suitable for use in
hydroponics systems. When determined in accordance with EN 13038, the expanded slate/clay shall have an
electrical conductivity of < 15,0 mS/m.

5.4 Pressure distribution layer

ln order to achieve a uniform distribution of the pressure, a fleece or woven material, 2 170 glm2 and
chemically compatible with the sheet to be tested, shall be placed directly under the sheet onto the moisture
layer.

5.5 Growing substrate

A mixture of homogeneous materials of identified quality available permanently at all of the test sites. lt shall
be structurally stable and show a favourable water/air rate and weak base fertiliser content for optimal
development of the roots of the test plants.

The growing substrate shall be a blend of:

of barely decomposed peat which shall have an electrical conductivity of < 8,0 mS/m
7O o/o by volume
when determined according to EN 13038 and a pH 4,0 É 1,0 when determined according to EN 13037;

3O o/o by volume of expanded slate/clay (grain fraction 8/16) complying with the requirements as specified
in 5.3.

The growing substrate shall be in direct contact with the test sample.
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

6 Sampling of test specimens

A reference sample shall be taken from the sheet before and after the test. The sample taken shall have at
least one joint and a surface of at least 1 m2. The reference sample shall be stored at temperatures between
(15 t 10) "C in a dark a dry room at the place (e.9. testing laboratory) where the test is conducted.

ln order to be able to identify the tested product clearly, the following information shall be ascertained at the
beginning of the test:

a) name of the product;

b) intended use;

c) type of material;

d) thickness of waterproofing layer (effective thickness for plastic and rubber sheets);

e) product design/structure;

0 year of manufacture;

g) installation method at test site (overlap, joint technique, jointing agent, type of joint seal, cover strip over
joints, special corner and angle joints);

h) addition of radicidal agents (e.9. root retardant).

NOTE Where the sheet is being tested by a third party, the manufacturer should supply a copy of the installation
instructions (with date of validity) to the testing organization.

7 Procedure

7.1 Preparation of grow¡ng substrate

The pH value of the substrate consisting of peat and expanded slate/clay (see 5.5) shall be adjusted to
pH (6,2 t 0,8) by addíng calcium carbonate (CaCOg),

The required amount can be determined from the following procedure:

a) take 5 samples of well mixed growing substrate per 1 l;

b) moisten the samples with tap water;

c) add different amounts of calcium carbonate (4 g, 5 g, 6 g, 7 g, and I g) to the individual samples;

d) place each samples in a plastic bag, seal and label;

e) store the samples in the bag for 3 days at a temperature of (20 t 5) 'C;

f) determine pH according to EN 13037;

g) extrapolate the amount of calcium carbonate that led to the desired pH value in the I I sample to the total
volume of growing substrate.

The basic fertiliser, as given in 5.6.1, shall be mixed homogeneously with the substrate.

I
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

Dimensions in millimetres

1 300

Figure 2 Arrangement of the joints of the test specimen

-
After installation of the test specimen of the sheet, place a uniform thickness of (150 t 10)mm of the growing
substrate.

Plant the test plants evenly distributed over the whole surface of the container (see Figure 3). ln larger
containers, if required, increase the number of test plants in order to obtain at least the same density of
vegetation (at least 6 plants/m'?).

The shank of the tensiometer shall be placed into the growing substrate in such a way that the measurement
is made in the lower area of the growing substrate. The tensiometer shall be placed at an equal distance from
the plants (see Figure 3).

Place the containers on stands in order to enable inspection for root penetration during the testing period. A
minimum clearance of 0,4 m shall be ensured around the containers. The test containers and the control
containers shall be arranged at random in the greenhouse.

11
 EN 13948:2007 (E)

The moisture layer shall be kept wet by sufficient watering once a week using the filler pipe ín the container.

A slow working fertiliser in accordance with 5.6.2 shall be applied at 6 months intervals, with the first taking
place 3 months after planting.

Where appropriate, any extraneous non-test plant grov'rth and dead plant material shall be removed.

Test plants which die during the first three months of the test shall be replaced. As the developing roots of the
surviving plants should not be disturbed replacement of plants is only allowed during the first three months of
the testing period.

The test plants shall not be cut back, however, it is permitted to cut back obstructing side shoots on the paths
between the containers.

Suitable plant protection measures shall be taken in the event of pest infestation.

lf more than 25 % of the test plants die during the test, the test will be invalid.

I Expression of results

8.1 General

Not to be evaluated as root penetration, but to be mentioned in the test report are:

a) roots that have grown < 5 mm into the surface or joint of sheets containing radicidal agents (root retardants)
as the root retardant effect cannot develop until after the roots have penetrated. ln order to facilitate this kind
of evaluation, these sheets shall be clearly defined as "containing radicides" by the manufacturer at the
beginning of the test,

b) roots that have grown into the surface of products consisting of several layers (e.9. bitumen sheets with
copper foil carrier or PVC sheet with polyester non-woven carrier) if the layer providing the penetration
protection has not been damaged. ln order to facilitate this kind of evaluation, this layer shall be clearly
defined by the manufacturer at the beginning of the test;

c) roots that have grown into the joint seals (without damaging the joint). A joint seal is considered to be either
fluid material pressed out from the joint during welding or a liquid material applied to secure the joint flange.

8.2 During the test

Every 6 months, verify whether root penetration has occurred by observing the moisture layer through the
transparent base tray on the 6 test containers.

When root penetration in the containers is observed, the test applicant should be informed. At this time the
test may be stopped.

Every year the grov'rth of the test plants in each test and control container shall be determined by recording
the height of the plants and stem diameter at a height of (20 ! 2) cm. ln addition the vitality of the test plants
shall be assessed. Plant damage (such as growth deformation, leaf discoloration etc.) shall be recorded
separately.

8.3 At the end of the test

The test applicant should be informed of the date of the final inspection, to allow his participation.

13