Good products alone do not guarantee a safe workplace. That is why national, European and international standardisation bodies also deal with workplace design and the coordination of individual furniture components.
The standards listed below are designed to protect occupational health and safety, product safety or both.
At present, all standards relating to the design of office workplaces fall into the category of non-harmonised standards. This means that compliance with them is not mandatory. Other implementations of the legal requirements for workplace design are also permitted. Nevertheless, they play an important role in documenting the state of the art in technology and occupational medicine. This applies in particular to the standards named by the Committee for Product Safety (AfPS) in connection with the Product Safety Act (ProdSG) and to the occupational health and safety standards identified by the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardisation (KAN).
Explanations regarding the origin of the standards can be found in the DIN – EN – ISO chapter.
Basics
DIN 33402–2:2020–12: Ergonomics – Human body dimensions – Part 2: Values
The standard provides the body dimensions of unclothed persons. The examined group includes all adults living in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The most important measurements in the standard can be found in the chapter body measurements.
DIN EN ISO 9241–5:1999–8: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) – Part 5: Workstation layout and postural requirements (ISO 9241–5:1998); German version EN ISO 9241–5:1999
The standard specifies ergonomic principles with regard to user requirements and the design and procurement of workstations for office work with display screen equipment. The principles and requirements are to be applied to standards that specify the design of office furniture and workstation equipment. Specifications for design are made with regard to body postures, ease of adjustment, work surfaces and work chairs, as well as the arrangement of workstations in the work area.
The standard is currently being revised. A draft was published in April 2023.
DIN EN ISO 9241–6:2001–03: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) – Part 6: Guidance on the work environment (ISO 9241–6:1999); German version EN ISO 9241–6:1999
The standard applies to the working environment and workplace in work systems where a display screen is used for office work. The standard provides guidelines for the ergonomic design of the working environment and workplace, taking into account lighting, noise, thermal environment, mechanical vibrations, electromagnetic and electrostatic fields, space utilisation and workplace layout. The four informative annexes provide practical guidance on the implementation of the guidelines.
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Acoustics
DIN EN ISO 17624:2005–03: Acoustics – Guidelines for noise control in offices and workrooms by means of acoustical screens (ISO 17624:2004); German version EN ISO 17624:2004
The standard contains acoustic and operational specifications that must be agreed between the manufacturer or supplier and the user of noise barriers. It applies, among other things, to free-standing noise barriers in offices.
VDI 2569:2019–10: Sound protection and acoustical design in offices
The VDI guideline provides information on how to adapt office spaces to their intended use in terms of building and room acoustics. It formulates recommendations for single and multi-user offices. These should be optimised in such a way as to limit or avoid noise pollution and stress, in particular disturbance and impairment of verbal communication. The guide addresses the noise situation in different types of offices and provides guidance on design, sound insulation of external and internal components, acoustic design of noisy building services and office equipment, and sound insulation within offices. It also explains the effects of noise.
DIN 18041:2016–03: Acoustic quality in rooms – Specifications and instructions for the room acoustic design
Based on the model developed by W. C. Sabine, the standard provides recommendations for the design of hearing and speech conditions in a wide range of rooms. A distinction is made between Type A rooms, where good hearing conditions are required throughout the room (e.g. seminar and meeting rooms), and Type B rooms, where speech intelligibility is required only over short distances (e.g. open-plan offices).
DIN EN ISO 3382–3:2022–04: Acoustics – Measurement of room acoustic parameters – Part 3: Open plan offices (ISO 3382–3:2022); German version EN ISO 3382–3:2022
The standard specifies room acoustic parameters for the assessment of open-plan offices and defines methods for their measurement. DIN EN ISO 3382–3:2022 does not define normative requirements for these parameters. Such requirements are defined in VDI 2569.
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Lighting
DIN EN 12464–1:2021–11: Light and lighting – Lighting of work places – Part 1: Indoor work places; German version EN 12464–1:2021
The standard specifies lighting requirements for people working indoors. Its specifications relate to the visual comfort and visual performance of persons with normal or normally corrected vision. Different types of typical work-related visual tasks are considered, including work with display screen equipment. The standard specifies requirements for lighting solutions for indoor workplaces. It also provides recommendations for the correct implementation of lighting, including visual and non-visual lighting requirements.
DIN 5035–6:2006–11: Artificial lighting – Part 6: Measurement and evaluation
The standard applies to the measurement and evaluation of certain photometric quantities of artificial lighting in indoor spaces and on certain outdoor surfaces, as well as safety lighting. It specifies requirements for measuring equipment and contains recommendations and requirements for the preparation and performance of measurements, as well as for the evaluation and presentation of measurement results. The standard also provides specific provisions for certain types of lighting with special requirements. The standard has been adapted to DIN EN 12464–1.
Note: The responsible committee is currently working on an update to the standard. A draft was published in October 2022.
VDI 6011 Blatt 1:2016–07: Lighting technology – Optimisation of daylight use and artificial lighting – Fundamentals and basic requirements
The purpose of the VDI guideline (technical rule) is to clarify the most important aspects of daylight utilisation and related criteria for artificial lighting in buildings. The guideline provides an overview of daylighting systems and daylighting control systems and highlights their special features. It also addresses the issue of heat gain. The appendices provide examples of combinations of artificial and daylighting in offices, and examples of system integration of daylighting and artificial lighting components.
Air Conditioning
DIN EN ISO 7730:2006–05: Ergonomics of the thermal environment – Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria (ISO 7730:2005); German version EN ISO 7730:2005
The standard describes a method for predicting human thermal perception and discomfort in moderate climates. It specifies the environmental conditions that lead to a feeling of thermal comfort. Other standards apply to extreme climates.
DIN EN ISO 7730 Amendment 1: 2007-06
The responsible standardisation committee is currently working on a revision. The draft was published in April 2007.
VDI 6022 Blatt 1:2018–01: Ventilation and indoor-air quality – Hygiene requirements for ventilation and air-conditioning systems and units (VDI Ventilation Code of Practice)
The VDI guideline deals with the hygiene of ventilation and air-conditioning systems and equipment. It covers ventilation and air conditioning systems and equipment that supply rooms or areas in rooms where people are expected to spend more than 30 days per year or regularly spend more than 2 hours per day. It applies to all systems and their centralised and decentralised components (including units such as recooling systems that affect supply air quality). The Directive does not require product testing or certification.
A correction has been published in April 2023.
