EN 40 is not one standard. It is a series of nine documents, and a supplier who says “we comply with EN 40” has not yet told you anything. Compliance with part 5 says the steel column is built correctly. It says nothing about whether anyone verified that the column survives the wind at your site – that is part 3-1 and part 3-3, and they are where tenders are won and lost.
Artay Lighting has cast aluminium in its own die-cast foundry in Istanbul since 1999, exports to more than 33 countries, and is certified to TSE under TS EN 40 for lighting columns. This page sets out what each part of the series actually does, which part carries CE marking, what EN 40 deliberately leaves to other standards, and how the series is adopted across the markets we ship to.
What are the parts of EN 40, and what does each one do?
The series as currently published runs to part 7. There is no part 8 or 9.
| Part | Title | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| EN 40-1 | Definitions and terms | The vocabulary. Rarely cited in a tender, but it is what makes “nominal height” mean the same thing to both parties |
| EN 40-2 | General requirements and dimensions | Dimensions, tolerances, door openings, cable entries. The part that decides whether a delivered pole fits the foundation |
| EN 40-3-1 | Design and verification – specification for characteristic loads | How the wind load on a column is established. The starting point of every structural check |
| EN 40-3-2 | Design and verification – verification by testing | Proving a design by physically loading a column to failure |
| EN 40-3-3 | Design and verification – verification by calculation | Proving a design by calculation. The route that scales across heights and bracket configurations |
| EN 40-4 | Requirements for reinforced and prestressed concrete lighting columns | Concrete columns |
| EN 40-5 | Requirements for steel lighting columns | Steel columns. The harmonised part – this is the one behind CE marking |
| EN 40-6 | Requirements for aluminium lighting columns | Aluminium columns |
| EN 40-7 | Requirements for fibre reinforced polymer composite lighting columns | Composite columns |
Read that table once and the structure becomes obvious. Parts 1 and 2 are common ground. Part 3 in its three sub-parts is the engineering. Parts 4 to 7 are one per material. A complete specification therefore names at least three documents: the material part, part 3-1 for the loads, and whichever of 3-2 or 3-3 will be used to verify them.
Which part decides whether the pole survives the wind?
Part 3-1 establishes the characteristic loads – what the wind, the luminaire and the bracket actually do to the column at your site. Then one of two things has to happen. Under EN 40-3-2 a physical column is loaded until it fails, and the result validates the design. Under EN 40-3-3 the same design is verified by calculation.
The practical difference is scale. A test proves one configuration: one height, one bracket, one luminaire weight and windage. A project with 8, 10 and 12 m columns, two arm lengths and two luminaire types is not three configurations, it is a dozen – and testing each is neither affordable nor necessary. Calculation under 3-3 covers the whole family from the same model.
So the question to ask a supplier is not “do you comply with EN 40”. It is: can you produce a calculation to EN 40-3-3, at the reference wind velocity for this site, for this exact combination of height, bracket and luminaire? A supplier who answers with a generic type-test certificate for a different configuration has answered a different question. This matters most where the design wind is high — the Croatian coast under the bura, or an Iraqi tender stating 140 km/h.
Which part carries CE marking?
EN 40-5. It was prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and EFTA, and it carries the Annex ZA that establishes CE marking and labelling for steel lighting columns. A steel column placed on an EU market needs the CE mark and a Declaration of Performance.
The regulation behind that changed recently and it is worth knowing where the ground is. Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 took effect on 8 January 2026 and repealed Regulation (EU) 305/2011; harmonised standards listed under the 2011 regulation and in force on that date remain valid until the Commission withdraws them, with provisions of the old regime reported to run as far as 2040. In short, the transition is long and EN 40-5 has not stopped being the reference. We report this from a legal briefing rather than from the regulation’s transitional articles, so confirm the position for a specific placing-on-the-market date if it carries commercial weight.
One trap worth naming. A CE mark on the luminaire is not a CE mark on the column, and a certificate covering luminaires does not cover columns. The two arrive in the same delivery, are sold by the same supplier, and are governed by different legislation – the luminaire under electrical and EMC rules, the column as a construction product. Ask for the certificate together with its scope, and read the scope.
What does EN 40 deliberately not cover?
This is the half of the question most specifications get wrong: EN 40 is a structural standard for the column. It says nothing about light. If a tender cites EN 40 and stops, it has specified a pole that will stand up and not specified what it must illuminate. It also does not tell you which material to choose; for that comparison see aluminium or galvanized steel lighting poles, which explains what EN 40-5 and EN 40-6 each govern.
| Subject | Standard that governs it |
|---|---|
| Road lighting performance – luminance, uniformity, glare | EN 13201 series |
| The luminaire itself | EN 60598-2-3, road and street lighting luminaires |
| Hot-dip galvanized coating on steel | EN ISO 1461 |
| Corrosion protection by paint systems, and the environment category | ISO 12944 series |
| Passive safety – what the column does when a vehicle hits it | EN 12767 |
| Obtrusive light and spill into the sky and neighbouring property | CIE 150 |
EN 12767 deserves a separate mention because it is the one most often absent and most consequential. It classifies how a column behaves in an impact – whether it is non-energy-absorbing, low or high energy absorbing, and what the occupant-safety class is. On a road where columns sit inside the clear zone, that classification is a safety decision rather than a preference, and it also changes the column: a passively safe column is a different product, not the same product with a note added.
Is EN 40 the standard everywhere we ship?
No, and assuming so is how bids get rejected. Across the eight export markets we looked at in detail, the picture divides three ways.
| Market | How EN 40 appears |
|---|---|
| Greece | Adopted as ELOT EN, and cited through a Greek national technical specification rather than directly |
| Croatia | Adopted as HRN EN; HRN EN 40-5 harmonised for CE marking since 1 February 2005 |
| Serbia | Adopted as SRPS EN, with a domestic conformity mark running alongside CE |
| Moldova | Named part by part as SM SR EN in the energy regulator’s public lighting norms |
| Kosovo | CE recognised in law; a national SK EN designation for lighting columns could not be confirmed |
| Georgia | No Georgian EN 40 designation found; EU and OECD standards are accepted, so an EN 40 design is acceptable on that basis |
| Kuwait | Only GSO EN 40-7 confirmed as a Gulf Standard; the other parts could not be confirmed |
| Iraq | Not cited at all in the Ministry of Electricity pole specification, which builds on IEC, EN 10025 and ASTM/BS galvanizing standards |
The lesson for a bid is short. In the EU and the Western Balkans, quote the national designation, not the bare EN number. In the Gulf and Iraq, offer EN 40 as an equivalence and expect to have it approved rather than assumed.
What should a tender clause actually say?
Something close to this, with the bracketed values filled in. It is short, and it closes every gap named above.
| Clause | What to write |
|---|---|
| Column | Steel lighting columns to EN 40-5, dimensions and tolerances to EN 40-2, CE marked with a Declaration of Performance |
| Structural verification | Characteristic loads to EN 40-3-1; verification by calculation to EN 40-3-3 at a reference wind velocity of [ ] m/s, for each height and bracket combination supplied |
| Corrosion protection | Hot-dip galvanized to EN ISO 1461; coating system for corrosivity category [C4 / C5] to ISO 12944; pre-treatment stated |
| Passive safety | Class to EN 12767: [ ], or “not required” stated explicitly |
| Lighting performance | Design to the EN 13201 series for lighting class [ ] |
| Luminaire | To EN 60598-2-3, CE marked |
| Obtrusive light | Limited per CIE 150 for environmental zone [ ] |
| Documents required with the bid | The EN 40-3-3 calculation, the galvanizing certificate, and each certificate’s scope |
What does Artay’s own certification cover?
Manufacturing is certified to TSE under TS EN 40 for lighting columns, and to ISO 9001 for quality management. Luminaires are CE marked. TS EN 40 is the Turkish adoption of the EN 40 series, which is why the wording is worth quoting exactly rather than paraphrasing: the value of a certificate is its scope, not its existence.
In practice we supply hot-dip galvanized steel poles to EN ISO 1461 up to 12 m, verified by calculation under EN 40-3-3 at the wind velocity a project states; and cast aluminium poles, bollards and luminaire housings from our own foundry in Başakşehir, Istanbul, in EN AC-46000 (AlSi9Cu3) alloy with chromate pre-treatment before electrostatic powder coating. We do not make high-mast poles, and we buy in extruded aluminium profile rather than extruding it ourselves, as most of this market does.
Send a tender specification, a drawing or a written requirement to info@artaylighting.com and we will return a technical drawing, a wind-load calculation at your stated velocity, and a delivery date.
Related guides
- Street lighting pole types – the four families, and how a galvanized steel pole is made, step by step.
- Lighting pole materials – galvanized steel, cast aluminium and extruded profile compared.
- Coastal lighting poles – ISO 12944 categories, chloride, fixings and cable entry.
- What drives the cost of a lighting pole – where the money goes, and why unit prices are not published.
- OEM and private label manufacturing – tooling cost, minimum order and lead times in writing.