oSIST prEN 18243:2025

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-december-2025
Modularne mehansko zaklenjene talne obloge za plavajoče polaganje - Ocena
toplotnega obnašanja s preskusom vročih točk
Modular mechanical locked floor coverings for floating installation - Evaluation of the
thermal behaviour by way of hot spot testing
Modulare mechanisch verriegelnde Bodenbeläge für die schwimmende Verlegung -
Bewertung des thermischen Verhaltens mittels Hot-Spot-Test
Revêtements de sol modulaires à verrouillage pour pose flottante - Évaluation du
comportement thermique par essai du point chaud
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 18243
ICS:
97.150 Talne obloge Floor coverings
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
October 2025
ICS 97.150
English Version
Modular mechanical locked floor coverings for floating
installation - Evaluation of the thermal behaviour by way
of hot spot testing
Revêtements de sol modulaires à verrouillage pour Modulare mechanisch verriegelnde Bodenbeläge für
pose flottante - Évaluation du comportement die schwimmende Verlegung - Bewertung des
thermique par essai du point chaud thermischen Verhaltens mittels Hot-Spot-Test
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 134.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

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

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 18243:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Principle . 6
5 Apparatus . 6
5.1 Hot spot device. 6
5.2 Flooring underlay . 7
5.3 NiCrNi sensors . 7
5.4 Adhesive tape . 7
5.5 Joint gauge . 8
5.6 Z-sensor . 8
6 Preparing and laying the test specimen . 8
7 Test procedure . 9
7.1 Measuring the thermally induced deformations by way of the Z-sensor . 9
8 Evaluation . 11
9 Test report . 11
Bibliography . 13

European foreword
This document (prEN 18243:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 134 “Resilient,
textile, laminate and modular mechanical locked floor coverings”, the secretariat of which is held by NBN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.

Introduction
The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) draws attention to the fact that it is claimed that
compliance with this document may involve the use of a patent concerning hot-spot device/test method
in 5.1/Clause 7 which is claimed to be relevant to the following clauses(s) of this document: 5.1/Clause 7.
CEN takes no position concerning the evidence, validity and scope of this patent right.
The holder of this patent right has ensured CEN of a willingness to negotiate licences under reasonable
and non-discriminatory terms and conditions with applicants throughout the world. In this respect, the
declaration of the holder of this patent right is registered with CEN. Information may be obtained from:
Institut für Holztechnologie Dresden gemeinnützige GmbH (name of the holder of the patent right
DE 10 2022 116 477 B4 2023.06.29), adress: Zellescher Weg 24, 01217 Dresden, Germany.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights other than those identified above. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or
all such patent rights.
1 Scope
This document specifies a large-scale method for evaluating the thermal stability of temperature-
sensitive modular mechanical locked floor coverings (MMF) which are laid as floating floor coverings, by
exposure to heat from above.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements 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 16354, Laminate floor coverings — Underlays — Specification, requirements and test methods
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
test specimen
floor covering cut and installed in accordance with the laying scheme
3.2
test field
total area covered by the test specimen
3.3
hot spot field
part of the test specimen exposed to heat irradiation
3.4
Z-sensor
sensor measuring the change in the floor covering due to thermal exposure, as the change to its plane
level (change in height) in millimetres
3.5
field of measurement
area (1 320 mm × 1 276 mm) scanned by the Z-sensor for logging the data measured
3.6
hot spot process
course of heating up (HT), holding a maximum surface temperature (HAT) and cooling down to be
complied with in order to allow correct determination of the maximum Z deformation
3.7
modular mechanical locked floor panel
MMF
decorative floor covering element in plank or tile form, with a multiple layer structure and worked edges
with a mechanical interlocking system that allows joining elements to form a larger integral floating floor
Note 1 to entry: The multi-layer structure consists of a top layer, a substrate (core) and usually a backing layer.
[SOURCE: EN 16511:2023+A1:2025, 3.1]
4 Principle
During the heating (HT) and temperature-holding (HAT) stages, the test specimen is partially (20 % of
its surface) exposed to thermal irradiation in its centre. The temperature control is set in such a way that
a maximum surface temperature of (70 ± 2) °C is reached after 45 min/1 K per minute. Partial heating
(HotSpot) of a define area (approx. 20 %) of the laid test specimen and cooling of the test specimen results
in the final Z deformation (deviation of the height of the test specimen from the plane level). The
respective differences are derived from the large number of Z-sensor values logged from the field of
measurement in the plane level before heating, from the field of measurement after heating (HT) and
after cooling (CT). In this way, the Z values measured are obtained at the times after heating (HT) and
after cooling (CT) via the field of measurement. The two maxima are determined out of them.
5 Apparatus
5.1 Hot spot device
The test device consists of a subfloor, on the top layer of which the test specimen shall be laid flat on an
underlay.
The subfloor for levelling the ground of the test stand is made up of different layers starting from the
ground: mineral material (mineral levelling granulate [thickness (20 ± 2) mm], screed gypsum [thickness
(40 ± 2) mm] and levelling compound [thickness (8 ± 1) mm, flatness of 1 mm/m]).
The floating flooring installation shall be performed according to the installation instructions of the
producer of the floor covering. The heat radiators (STIR) emitting the heat without curtains onto the test
specimen from above are to be placed centrally above the test field measuring 2 350 mm × 2 040 mm.
The area of the HotSpot field (heat radiator) shall have the size of 1 m . STIR-Emitter as infrared source
shall have a power of 2,2 KW, with 1,39 W/cm , spectral range: 2 µm to10 µm and quartz glass filters.
For examination, the test specimen shall be fixed on the two opposite sides (parallel to the trans-verse
joints). For that purpose, clamping levers, which are firmly installed on the frame of the substrate, shall
be fixed by a force of 1 250 N on one side. On the opposite side, 1 250 N shall be distributed evenly as
weights (discs) along the entire length of the test specimen using a load rod.
For monitoring and control the surface temperature, a NiCrNi sensor (commercial thermal elements e.g.
T 190-0) is placed centrally on the surface of the test specimen (in the HotSpot field) with special
Polyamide adhesive tape.
EXAMPLE Polyamide adhesive tape is semi-transparent, copper-coloured, with 40 mm width and with
0,06 mm thickness.
T 190-0 is the trade name of a product supplied by Ahlborn. This information is given for the convenience of
users of this document and does not constitute an endorsement by CEN of the product named. Equivalent
products may be used if they can be shown to lead to the same results.
Further NiCrNi sensors can be placed under the test specimen or beneath the underlay of the flooring for
additional temperature logging but are not required for performing the test correctly.
At the time of measurement, the Z-sensor scans the field of measurement in a traversing manner in order
to record 78 measurement points along each of 66 measurement lines. The Z-sensor measures the
distance to the floor covering in mm. The maximum deviation of the heated floor covering from the plane
level due to deformation can be derived from the obtained measurement data at the time of
measurement.
An example of the hot spot device is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 — Example of a hot spot device
5.2 Flooring underlay
The test specimen is laid floating on an underlay. The test is carried out with the underlay recommended
by the manufacturer or the underlay which is already integrated. If no underlay is recommended by the
manufacturer or integrated an underlay with a CS value of (400 ± 50) kPa with a thickness (1,5 ± 0,3) mm
measured according to EN 16354 shall be used for the test.
NOTE The product SELITBLOC® GripTec 1,5 mm is an example of a suitable commercially available underlay.
Care should be taken that the underlay is not stored in conditions that might be harmful to it (ex-posed
to mechanical or ther
...