EN 15804+A2:2019 is the core European standard for Environmental Product Declarations in the construction sector. Understanding it is essential for anyone working with EPDs — whether you are a manufacturer commissioning an LCA study, a specifier evaluating supplier data, or a building assessor running a whole-life carbon calculation.
Why EN 15804 exists
Before EN 15804, EPDs for construction products were calculated using different methodologies in different countries and programmes. A concrete EPD from Germany might use different life cycle stages and different impact categories than a concrete EPD from Sweden. Meaningful comparison between products was impossible.
EN 15804 created a common Product Category Rule for all construction products, ensuring that every compliant EPD uses the same structure, the same life cycle stages, the same environmental indicators, and the same rules for handling recycled content. This comparability is what makes EPDs commercially useful — it is the shared language that allows a specifier in Copenhagen to evaluate a product manufactured in Kraków against one manufactured in Stuttgart.
What changed in the A2:2019 revision
The original EN 15804:2012 was revised significantly in the A2 amendment of 2019. The most important changes affect how manufacturers report and how assessors interpret EPD data.
Global Warming Potential is now split into three sub-indicators: GWP-total (all greenhouse gases), GWP-fossil (emissions from fossil fuels), and GWP-biogenic (carbon stored in or released from biological materials). This distinction matters particularly for timber and wood products, where biogenic carbon accounting significantly affects the apparent climate impact of a product.
Expanded mandatory indicators: A2 added particulate matter, ionising radiation, human toxicity potential, land use, and water use as mandatory reporting indicators. EPDs issued under the original 2012 standard reported fewer indicators and are not directly comparable with A2-compliant EPDs.
Stricter end-of-life rules: The handling of recycled and recovered material was revised to reduce double-counting of environmental benefits between the producer and the user of recycled material — an important change for steel and concrete producers in particular.
The life cycle modules
EN 15804 organises the product life cycle into four stages and sixteen information modules. Not all modules are mandatory — the scope depends on the applicable product category rule:
Stage A (production and construction): A1–A3 cover raw material extraction, transport to factory, and manufacturing — the „cradle-to-gate” scope that is mandatory in virtually all construction EPDs. A4–A5 cover transport to site and installation, which are optional in many categories but increasingly expected.
Stage B (use): B1–B7 cover use, maintenance, repair, replacement, and operational energy and water use. Most material EPDs declare these modules as zero or not relevant for the material itself.
Stage C (end of life): C1–C4 cover deconstruction, transport, waste processing, and disposal. These are increasingly required in updated product category rules as the EU pushes for full life cycle transparency.
Module D (beyond the system boundary): Reports the net benefits from reuse, recovery, and recycling potential at end of life. Module D is informative rather than mandatory, but many EPDs include it — particularly for steel and concrete, which have well-established recycling rates and significant end-of-life credit potential.
The transition from 2012 to A2
From February 2022, all EPDs registered under EN 15804 were required to comply with the A2:2019 revision. EPDs issued under the older 2012 version have been phased out and should no longer be treated as current documentation.
This has practical consequences for procurement. If you are comparing EPDs from different suppliers, check which version of EN 15804 applies. An A1+A2 EPD and a 2012 EPD cannot be directly compared — they report different indicators and use different rules for system boundaries and co-product allocation.
EN 15804 and EPD Polska
All EPDs verified and registered by EPD Polska are issued under EN 15804+A2:2019. The programme is aligned with requirements published by ECO Platform — the European umbrella body for EPD programme operators.
| Module | Life Cycle Stage | What It Covers | Status in EPD |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1–A3 | Production | Raw material extraction, transport to factory, manufacturing | Mandatory |
| A4–A5 | Construction process | Transport to building site, installation | Declared |
| B1–B7 | Use stage | Use, maintenance, repair, replacement, refurbishment, operational energy & water | Declared |
| C1–C4 | End of life | Deconstruction, transport, waste processing, disposal | Declared |
| D | Beyond system boundary | Net benefits from reuse, recovery, and recycling potential | Optional |
Frequently Asked Questions
- What exactly is EN 15804+A2:2019?
- EN 15804+A2:2019 is the European core standard that defines the rules for creating Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for construction products. It specifies how life cycle assessment data must be collected, calculated, and presented so that EPDs are consistent and comparable across Europe.
- How does the A2 amendment differ from the previous version?
- The A2 amendment introduced mandatory reporting of additional environmental indicators, including Global Warming Potential (GWP-fossil, GWP-biogenic, GWP-luluc), fine particle emissions, and ionising radiation. It also made Module D — covering benefits beyond the system boundary — a required declaration, improving transparency around recycling and reuse potential.
- Is EN 15804+A2:2019 mandatory for EPDs in the EU?
- Not yet mandatory by law, but it is the recognised standard under the European Commission’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR) framework and required by most green building schemes (BREEAM, LEED, DGNB). Many public procurement specifications and Level(s) reporting also reference it directly.
- What is the difference between EN 15804 and ISO 14025?
- ISO 14025 is the international meta-standard that defines what an EPD programme must look like and how third-party verification must work. EN 15804 is the European product-category rules (PCR) built on top of ISO 14025 — it provides the specific calculation rules for construction products.
- How long is an EPD based on EN 15804+A2:2019 valid?
- EPDs are valid for five years from the date of publication. After five years, the manufacturer must conduct a new LCA study or update the existing one to reflect any changes in production processes, energy mix, or supply chain, and then submit it for re-verification.