Second-generation Eurocode 3: EN 1993-1-1:2022 and the March 2028 switch-over

EN 1993-1-1:2022, the second-generation Eurocode 3 general rules for steel design, was approved by CEN on 24 July 2022 and carries the date November 2022. Its European foreword says it supersedes EN 1993-1-1:2005 and its amendments and corrigenda. National standards bodies must adopt it by September 2027 at the latest, and conflicting national standards must be withdrawn by March 2028 at the latest.

In the UK, BSI publishes it as BS EN 1993-1-1:2022. BSI will withdraw the UK adoptions of the first-generation Eurocodes on 30 March 2028. Until then, BSI says, the first-generation documents remain the applicable standards for buildings and civil engineering works in the UK, unless the relevant authority or the project specification says otherwise. BSI also cautions that mixing provisions from the two generations should be done with care and only when the result is no less reliable than the first-generation Eurocodes with their UK National Annexes.

Why it matters for design engineers

The foreword lists the main technical changes. For member design they include:

Area	Change
Materials	Steel grades up to S700
Sections	Elliptical hollow sections; a new method for semi-compact (Class 3) sections; explicit rules for members with mono-symmetric cross-sections
Torsion	Improved treatment
Lateral torsional buckling of beams	A new method, with a fully revised simplified method
Fatigue	A simplified approach
Reliability	A new informative Annex E with the statistical data used to calibrate the partial factors

Flexural buckling of a uniform member in compression moves from clause 6.3.1 to clause 8.3.1. The foreword does not list a change to the flexural buckling reduction factor $\chi$, the imperfection factors or the buckling curves, but the full text is paid and we have not compared those clauses.

What to check:

If you	Check
Design UK buildings now	The contract or authority: first generation applies until 30 March 2028 unless specified otherwise
Quote clause numbers in calculations	Renumbering: member buckling is Section 8.3 in the 2022 edition, not 6.3
Use steel above S460 or elliptical hollow sections	The extended scope of the 2022 edition
Rely on $\gamma_{M1}$ or other Nationally Determined Parameters	The National Annex that goes with the generation you are using, and whether one has been published for the 2022 edition
Check beams for lateral torsional buckling	The new and revised methods; results may differ from the 2005 edition

Our tools

The Euler buckling calculator shows the EN 1993-1-1:2005 + A1:2014 reduction factor from clause 6.3.1.2, with the imperfection factors of Table 6.1 and $\gamma_{M1} = 1.0$. That remains the applicable UK edition until 30 March 2028. We will review the calculator against the 2022 text, including clause references and any change to the curves, before that date, and record the result in its changelog.