Nordic Network for Eurocodes

Nordic Network to Support Development of National Annexes to the 2nd generation of Eurocodes with focus on Potentials for Nordic Harmonisation and green benefits related to resources and climate

Publiceret 03-07-2026

Nordic Sustainable Construction has awarded to Standards Norway a contract to establish a Nordic network that will bring Eurocode experts, standardisation bodies and authorities together to share knowledge, seek potentials for harmonised national annexes and identify green benefits in the 2nd generation of Eurocodes.

Nordic Cooperation on Eurocodes

As part of the Circularity Work Package, Nordic Sustainable Construction has initiated a Nordic Network for knowledge sharing on green benefits and harmonisation of the national annexes to the Eurocodes. The project focuses on the development of national annexes to the 2nd generation of Eurocodes. This is seen as a window of opportunity to reduce climate and resource impacts from construction while seeking Nordic harmonisation where it is feasible and meaningful.

Sharing knowledge across countries

The network will bring together Nordic construction Eurocode experts, Nordic standardisation organisations and authorities. It will identify topics where knowledge sharing can create most value, including safety, loads and materials, relevant choices in existing national annexes, possible content for the new annexes and green measures that can support resource and climate optimisation.

The work

Standards Norway will organise and facilitate the Nordic knowledge-sharing network. The approach includes mapping relevant Nordic authorities, experts and standardisation bodies, prioritising topics based on harmonisation potential and green optimisation relevance, The work started in spring 2026. Relevant topics have been identified by Nordic experts and prioritised depending on their green potential and execution potential.

The following topics have been selected for more detailed Nordic network meetings:

Topic	Description
Serviceability limit state (SLS) criteria	The SLS relates to deformations and vibrations and not to the capacity of the structural components. The SLS criteria dictate in multiple cases the material use. In the Eurocodes, recommendations and examples are provided. There is an opening for providing national values in the National Annexes.
Optimisation of the design	The Eurocodes with National Annexes provide the tools to verify the structural integrity of load-bearing structures. The verifications are performed by checking that the resistance is higher than the actions/loads. This topic raises the question about the conservativism in the use of the Eurocode by the practitioners and discusses if any provisions should be given to encourage material efficiency and high utilisation rates in the design.
Maps for climatic actions	The climatic actions are provided for each of the Nordic countries in the National Annexes. Different approaches have been used in the different Nordic countries leading to variation in loads for similar conditions. Changes of design values between countries are most visible at the borders.
Design life of buildings	The Eurocodes provide recommendations for typical design lives. Could these be optimised and harmonised across the Nordic countries?

Expected results

The network will support the Nordic countries with knowledge that can enable increased harmonisation and green benefits in the development of national annexes. The results will also be summarised for sharing with relevant EU and international stakeholders.

Timeline, project info and participation

The work was awarded in March 2026 and will be concluded in September 2027. Network meetings are expected from September 2026 to April 2027. The budget is 600.000 DKK excl. VAT.

Standards Norway will prepare the materials for meetings and call for meetings on the topics. If you are interested in participating, please provide your contact details to Standards Norway by sending an email to dbu@standard.no (Dag Burgos, project manager).