BS EN 1997-1:2004 is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1990:2002, which establishes the principles and requirements for safety and serviceability, describes the basis of design and verification and gives guidelines for related aspects of structural reliability.

BS EN 1997-1:2004 is intended to be applied to the geotechnical aspects of the design of buildings and civil engineering works. It is subdivided into various separate parts (see 1.1.2 and 1.1.3).

BS EN 1997-1:2004 is concerned with the requirements for strength, stability, serviceability and durability of structures. Other requirements, e.g. concerning thermal or sound insulation, are not considered.

Numerical values of actions on buildings and civil engineering works to be taken into account in design are provided in BS EN 1997-1:2004 for the various types of construction. Actions imposed by the ground, such as earth pressures, shall be calculated according to the rules of BS EN 1997-1:2004.

Separate European Standards are intended to be used to treat matters of execution and workmanship. They are denoted in the relevant sections.

BS EN 1997-1:2004 execution is covered to the extent that is necessary to comply with the assumptions of the design rules.

BS EN 1997-1:2004 does not cover the special requirements of seismic design. BS EN 1997-1:2004 provides additional rules for geotechnical seismic design, which complete or adapt the rules of this Standard.

BS EN 1997-2:2007 sets out the rules for the planning and reporting of ground investigations, the general requirements for a number of commonly used laboratory and field tests, as well as the interpretation of soil test results. The standard also looks at the derivation of the values of geotechnical parameters and coefficients during construction engineering works. The application of field testing results to design is covered in BS EN 1997-2.