EN 200.

Overview

EN 200 is the European Standard for sanitary tapware, setting the general technical specifications for single taps and combination taps used in water supply systems operating at a nominal pressure of PN 10. It is published by CEN and is the reference document that a tap must satisfy before it can be placed on the European market.

The standard groups taps into types according to their flow and pressure behaviour, and defines how a compliant tap must perform across leak-tightness, pressure resistance, hydraulic performance and mechanical endurance. Its purpose is to confirm that a tap remains watertight, durable and predictable in flow throughout a realistic service life.

Scope & Applicability

EN 200 applies to manually operated single and combination taps for sanitary use — basins, sinks, bidets and similar fittings — fed from a building water supply. It addresses the tap as a complete fitting: the body, the operating mechanism and the seals that must hold under repeated use and sustained line pressure. Mixing taps that combine hot and cold through a mechanical cartridge fall under the companion standard EN 817 rather than EN 200.

Test Methods

Conformity is demonstrated through a set of hydraulic and mechanical checks carried out on representative samples:

• Leak-tightness — the tap is pressurised and held to confirm that no leakage occurs at seals, joints or the closure mechanism, in both the open and closed positions.
• Pressure resistance — the body and connections are subjected to elevated static pressure to verify mechanical integrity without deformation or failure.
• Mechanical endurance — the tap is cycled open and closed for a large number of operations to confirm that seals and the operating mechanism keep performing after prolonged use.

The specific pressures, cycle counts and acceptance limits for each check are defined by the standard, so test benches are configured to the tap type and the values it must meet.

Related Standards

EN 200 sits within the CEN family of sanitary tapware standards. Its closest companion is EN 817, which covers mechanical mixer taps; together they span the most common manually operated fittings. Thermostatic and pressure-specific variants are addressed by further standards in the same family, so a manufacturer selects the document that matches the tap's operating principle.

Testing with ULMEKA

ULMEKA Mechatronics designs and manufactures endurance and leak-and-pressure test rigs for sanitary tapware, configured to the cycle counts and pressures called for by EN 200. The equipment below is built to the relevant tap type and test parameters; for a specific testing need, the requirements are confirmed at the proposal stage.