The complaint about a building pressure reducing valve is rarely “it leaks”. It is “it holds pressure at no flow, then collapses when a tap opens”. EN 1567 addresses exactly that: outlet pressure is not a single reading but an outlet-pressure-versus-flow characteristic. There is also a second item that Chinese reports almost never include and European projects always check — creep, the rise in downstream pressure at zero flow. Rise too far and you lift the safety valve or burst a hose.
EN 1567:1999, “Building valves — Water pressure reducing valves and combination water pressure reducing valves — Requirements and tests”, covers PRVs in domestic cold and hot water systems. It is a product standard, not a method standard. This article runs: scope and boundaries, the two setting classes, the five mandatory checks, creep, acoustics, the dispute over endurance cycles, the building-valve family, the Chinese mapping, and equipment.
1. Scope — DN 8 to DN 100, inlet capped at 16 bar
| Item | EN 1567 |
|---|---|
| Size | DN 8 – DN 100 |
| Inlet pressure | Not exceeding 1.6 MPa (16 bar) |
| Medium temperature | ≤ 30 °C for cold water; ≤ 80 °C for hot water |
| Materials and hygiene | On normal or incidental contact up to 90 °C, materials and coatings must not contaminate or alter drinking water; materials and coatings must be declared in the technical literature |
| Mounting | Any orientation unless the manufacturer states otherwise |
| Outside the scope | Industrial, steam and fire-protection PRVs; gas regulators (the EN 88 / EN 334 world) |
One boundary worth repeating: EN 1567 is the in-building domestic PRV, not the network control valve of EN 1074-5. The former regulates 0.1 – 0.8 MPa downstream of the meter; the latter regulates at network level. An EN 1567 report on a network project is a wrong-standard situation.
2. Two setting classes
| Class | Adjustable outlet range | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | 0.1 – 0.4 MPa (1 – 4 bar) | Single dwelling, low-rise, terminal points |
| Class 2 | 0.3 – 0.8 MPa (3 – 8 bar) | High-rise zoning, building main, secondary supply branches |
Two things must be in the contract: the class and the setpoint. Writing only “outlet 0.3 MPa” lets a factory hit it with a Class 1 spring at the top of its range or a Class 2 spring at the bottom, and those two behave differently in flow characteristic and creep. Zoned high-rise supply makes this worse: inlet pressure varies by zone, and one valve model does not cover a whole building.
3. The five mandatory checks
| Test | Method | Criterion |
|---|---|---|
| Shell strength | 1.5 × PS (2.4 MPa for a 16 bar valve), hold with no leakage or permanent deformation | No visible leakage |
| Tightness (internal and external) | 1.1 × PS, checked separately at the closed seat and at the stem seal | No visible leakage per the standard |
| Outlet pressure vs flow | Inlet held at the set pressure; flow swept from zero to maximum with outlet pressure logged | Outlet pressure stays inside the permitted deviation band (steady-state deviations are assessed on the order of ±10 %) |
| Creep (closing pressure rise) | Zero flow, inlet at the highest step; watch downstream pressure | Rise above the setpoint must not exceed the 0.1 MPa (1 bar) order of magnitude |
| Acoustics | Laboratory method to EN ISO 3822 | Declared noise group (I / II etc.); frequently a tender item on residential work |
| Endurance | Cycling of the setting mechanism, then re-test of outlet characteristic and tightness | Performance must not degrade beyond the criteria |
The first two are “will it hold pressure” checks. The last four are “does it actually work” checks. Plenty of factory reports contain only the first two, which amounts to accepting the product as a pressure vessel.
4. Creep — why 0.1 MPa matters
At zero flow, downstream pressure rises slowly. That is inherent: the balance of forces across the plug changes, elastomers creep, temperature drifts. The question is by how much. On a 0.3 MPa domestic system, a 0.3 MPa creep puts 0.6 MPa downstream — water heater, hoses and filters all see overpressure. EN 1567 quantifies the allowance at the 0.1 MPa order, which is precisely the line between “usable” and “will damage something”.
There is a trap in the method: read only after the pressure stabilises. The rise is gradual, and a reading at 30 seconds versus 30 minutes can lead to opposite conclusions. The standard defines a stability criterion, not “watch it for a while”. The bench needs a stable supply and a long enough observation window, otherwise creep is measured low.
5. Acoustics — the invisible building-valve metric
Valves inside buildings are heard by occupants. EN 1567 assigns a noise group using the EN ISO 3822 laboratory method, exactly as EN 13828 does for ball valves. Chinese standards impose no mandatory noise classification on PRVs, while European residential, hotel and hospital projects routinely score it in the tender.
Factories rarely own an EN ISO 3822 laboratory, so acoustics is normally outsourced. What can be done in-house is controlling velocity and passage shape at design stage — noise comes mainly from high-velocity jets and cavitation, and lowering internal velocity usually buys one group.
6. Endurance cycles — secondary sources contradict each other
Two figures circulate for the endurance cycle count (10 000 and 15 000), they contradict each other, and neither cites a clause. Numbers like this must be checked against the table in the standard text — the count that goes into a contract should come from the copy of the standard you hold, not from an article. This matters commercially: double the cycles and the bench cycle time and labour double with it.
What is certain is the direction of the criteria: after cycling, outlet characteristic, creep and tightness are re-measured, and degradation in any of them fails the valve. Reporting “N cycles, no damage” without the re-test data does not complete the endurance test.
7. Where it sits in the building-valve family
| Standard | Object | Pressure / temperature | Distinctive requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| EN 331:2015 | In-building gas ball/plug valves | MOP 20 mbar – 2 bar | Gas tightness, 500 – 5 000 cycles |
| EN 13828:2025 | In-building potable-water ball valves | PN10 / PN16, 65 °C | Dezincification, acoustics, thirteen checks |
| EN 1567:1999 | In-building water PRVs (incl. combination) | Inlet ≤ 16 bar, cold 30 °C / hot 80 °C | Outlet characteristic, creep, acoustics |
| EN 1074-5 | Network control valves | PFA 6 – 25 bar | Network-level regulation and sustaining |
All four belong to the water/gas valve world, but the acceptance logic differs: ball valves are judged on tightness and endurance; PRVs on dynamic regulation. Building drawings often carry both, and the reports must be separate — neither can cite the other.
8. The Chinese mapping
| Dimension | Chinese counterpart | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| General product requirements | GB/T 12244-2025 | Classified by PN and construction; no noise-group requirement |
| Performance test method | GB/T 12245-2025 (in force from 1 May 2026) | Static, flow and pressure characteristics tested separately; mappable to EN 1567 items |
| Technical specification | GB/T 12246-2025 | — |
| Hygiene | GB/T 17219 | Material hygiene evaluation, not product performance |
| Acoustics | — | No mandatory classification; European exports need EN ISO 3822 |
The practical export approach: test to GB/T 12245-2025, structure the report to EN 1567, and attach a clause-mapping table. One data set then supports both the domestic factory record and the European third-party report.
9. Configuring the equipment
- Adjustable inlet circuit: 0.2 – 1.6 MPa continuously adjustable, with stability better than the valve’s own tolerance, otherwise you are measuring the bench;
- Flow control and metering: continuous from zero to maximum, with outlet pressure sampled simultaneously to produce the characteristic curve directly;
- Zero-flow observation window: 30 minutes or more after closing downstream, to judge whether creep has stabilised;
- Dual cold/hot circuits: 30 °C and 80 °C, with temperature control and scaling protection on the hot side;
- Cycling bench: cycles the setting mechanism, counts automatically, then routes into the performance re-test;
- Acoustics: an EN ISO 3822 laboratory — normally outsourced.
For bench configuration see the pressure reducing valve performance test bench and the valve pressure test machine for shell and tightness items; for a shared multi-project frame see the valve comprehensive test bench.
FAQ
The static outlet pressure passes — why does the customer still reject it?
Because static is a single point. EN 1567 looks at the whole outlet-pressure-versus-flow curve and at creep at zero flow. Many valves sit neatly at 0.3 MPa statically and drop below 0.2 MPa once flow starts, which in service is a shower that swings hot and cold.
Is the 0.1 MPa creep figure a hard limit?
It is the order of magnitude the standard allows, used to separate “usable” from “will damage downstream equipment”. The precise criterion and test conditions belong to the clause; treating it as a red line in engineering is sensible — above 0.1 MPa, domestic heaters and hoses start to be at risk.
Can EN 1567 and EN 1074-5 substitute for each other?
No. EN 1567 is the in-building domestic PRV (inlet ≤ 16 bar, outlet 0.1 – 0.8 MPa); EN 1074-5 is a network control valve judged on PFA/PMA/PEA and network duty. Sizes, pressures and criteria all differ.
How many endurance cycles, exactly?
Whatever the clause in the copy you hold says. Secondary sources carry both 10 000 and 15 000 and contradict each other; check the standard’s own table before quoting, because the count drives bench cycle time and price.
Specific clauses follow EN 1567:1999; the tables above are for orientation in selection, quoting and test discussions. For in-building potable-water ball valves see EN 13828; for in-building gas valves see EN 331; for gas distribution valves see EN 13774; and the full map is in the valve test standards index.
Related test equipment
Each test above maps to a bench. Pick by valve type and by the item you need to prove:
- Valve life-cycle test bench — pressurised cycling with automatic counting and stop-on-failure
- Valve comprehensive test bench — pressure, tightness, flow, torque and life cycling on one clamping system
- Valve pressure test machine — shell at 1.5x and seat at 1.1x, with a report per valve
- Valve testing equipment range — browse all models by valve type and test item