Plywood Standards: Which Standard Applies to Which Panel and Market

Plywood standards answer four questions: how the face looks, how strong the glue line is, how much formaldehyde the panel releases and whether it may be used for structure. Different markets answer each one with a different standard. This map shows which standard sits behind which question, and where the detail page is.

Use and market	Face	Bond and service	Emission	Structure and marking
Furniture and cabinets, EU	EN 635 classes	EN 314 bond classes	E1 and the REACH limit	CE marking where the panel is a construction product
Furniture and cabinets, United States	HPVA HP-1 grades, see the HP-1 post	Glue family in the spec	TSCA Title VI and CARB, with a certifier	Panel label
Construction and formwork, Europe	EN 635 where appearance matters	EN 314 class 3 for exterior use; see EN 636 and CE marking	E1	EN 13986 Declaration of Performance
Structural sheathing, United States	Grade in the stamp	Exposure 1 or Exterior	Outside the TSCA rule (the rule names PS 1-19 and PS 2-18)	PS 1 stamp from an accredited agency
Structural, Australia and New Zealand	AS/NZS grades	Bond type in the standard	Class in the standard	See the AS/NZS 2269 post
Japan	JAS grade	JAS bond type	F-star grades	JAS mark from a registered body
China	GB/T 9846	In the standard	GB 18580 and GB/T 39600 grades, see the Chinese standards page	Contract
Korea	KS F 3101	In the standard	Korean class in the contract	See the JAS, KS and BIS post

How the standards fit together

A plywood order usually needs five lines, and each line points at a different standard:

1. Face and back. Hardwood plywood uses classes E, I, II, III and IV in EN 635-2 in Europe. Asian and US trade also uses letter grades, which are not the same thing.
2. Bond. EN 314 tests the glue line and sets classes 1, 2 and 3. PS 1 uses Exposure 1 and Exterior. Trade names such as MR and WBP are glue families, and the glue grades post compares them.
3. Emission. The class names are tied to systems. The emission classes page compares them and the test methods page shows why the numbers do not convert.
4. Dimensions. EN 315 sets tolerances in Europe (see the EN 315 page), and the sizes and tolerance post covers the commercial side.
5. Structure. PS 1 in the United States, EN 636 and EN 13986 in Europe, AS/NZS 2269 in Australia and New Zealand, JAS structural plywood in Japan.

Standards are not certificates

A standard names a test and a limit. A certificate shows that a body checked a mill or a product against it. A test report shows that a sample met a limit on one day. The companion hub, certificates, tests and rules, covers how to read and check those documents. PlywoodViet is a matching service. It does not issue or hold certificates. Ask the mill for the original document and check it with the issuer.

Editions to watch

As of October 2026 several references were moving. NIST published PS 1-22 as the revision of PS 1-19 effective 2 October 2023. PS 1-22 is the current voluntary standard, but the TSCA rule (40 CFR 770 on eCFR) still incorporates PS 1-19 and PS 2-18. EPA proposed a routine update to its formaldehyde rule in February 2026. The EU formaldehyde restriction began to apply on 6 August 2026. A European draft revision of the EN 717-1 chamber method was in enquiry. Each detail page names the edition it cites.