This European Standard specifies performance and durability characteristics for synthetic turf sports surfaces used primarily outdoors. Five categories of surface are covered, each based on the principal sporting use of the surface, as follows: surfaces designed primarily for hockey; surfaces designed primarily for association football; surfaces designed primarily for rugby union for training purposes; NOTE Under the Laws of the Game of Rugby Union, surfaces for rugby union matches have to comply with IRB Regulation 22. surfaces designed primarily for tennis; and surfaces designed for multi-sports use. The requirements are intended to apply to surfaces used for community, educational and recreational sport. For professional and elite levels of competition, many sports governing bodies have published their own specifications; the requirements of the sports governing bodies might differ from those detailed in this European Standard and facility developers are advised to ensure that they select surfaces offering the correct level of performance for the level of competition played on the pitch or court. This European Standard is based on type approval testing of products in the laboratory. Selected requirements may also be used on site to assess the suitability of installed surfaces. Guidance on the testing of installations is given in Annex A. Some of the surfaces covered by this European Standard are designed to allow users to wear footwear fitted with studs. An example of a typical stud is given in EN 15306. For the purposes of this European Standard, multi-dimpled shoe profiles often found on footwear used on sand-filled or non-filled synthetic turfs are not considered to be studs.