ABSTRACT Fire testing of floor coverings shall, in the future in Europe, be performed according to a European Standard. The method that has been discussed determines the burning behaviour and smoke production of floor coverings when they are exposed to a radiant heat energy source. To study the effects for the Nordic countries of the new classification test method a minor series of floor coverings was tested. The method description used for the CEN-tests is the working document CEN/TC 127 N 125. The test results were compared with results from the Nordic classification method of today (NT FIRE 007). The results of the study indicate that the CEN-method is more severe than the NT FIRE-method. The limit levels of the Nordic classification system of today are in fact tangent to the measuring range of the CEN-method. The classification range for smoke of the CEN-method can be extended by measuring the smoke with a higher resolution or increasing the air flow at the measuring point. However, the classification range for flame spread cannot easily be extended.