The open-head steel drum, which covers round steel pails too: what it may carry, and the packing group I limit.
UN 1A2 is the packaging code for a steel drum with a removable head, or any opening wider than 7 cm, and it covers round steel pails too. It holds at most 450 litres and 400 kg net, and carries solids and packing group II and III liquids.
Decode a full 1A2 mark Ask for 1A2 containers
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
1 | Drum: a cylindrical packaging with flat or convex ends, pail-shaped packagings included |
A | Steel, of any type and surface treatment |
2 | Removable head, or a fixed head with an opening wider than 7 cm |
| Maximum capacity | 450 litres (6.1.4.1.8) |
|---|---|
| Maximum net mass | 400 kg |
As a single packaging for liquids, packing instruction P001 sets the working limits by packing group.
Solids, and liquids of packing groups II and III: packing instruction P001 lists 1A2 for liquids at up to 450 litres, and the UN’s own marking example is a 1A2 for liquids. In packing group I it may carry only viscous liquids: above 200 mm²/s under the UN text, above 2 680 mm²/s under ADR 2025 (P001, note a). Gaskets or other sealing elements are required with every removable head. Marks on a removable-head design must sit on a part that does not come off, not on the lid alone.
| Test | What the design has to survive | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Drop | Filled to at least 98 per cent and dropped on its weakest points: from 1.8 m for packing group I, 1.2 m for II and 0.8 m for III. Tested with water, a liquid denser than 1.2 drops from its relative density times 1.5, 1.0 or 0.67 m. | 6.1.5.3 |
| Leakproofness | Held under water for five minutes at an air pressure of 30 kPa for packing group I or 20 kPa for II and III. Every container made for liquids passes the same test before its first use. | 6.1.5.4, 6.1.1.3 |
| Internal pressure | Held for five minutes at the hydraulic pressure the mark states, at least 250 kPa for packing group I. | 6.1.5.5 |
| Stacking | Carries the weight of a 3 m stack of identical full packages for 24 hours without leaking or losing strength. | 6.1.5.6 |
A design marked S for solids needs the drop and stacking tests only. The leakproofness and pressure tests belong to designs for liquids.
No period-of-use limit applies to steel drums: the five-year rule in 4.1.1.15 covers plastics only. A reconditioned drum carries the reconditioner’s mark and the letter R, and RL once it has passed a fresh leakproofness test. New steel drums over 100 litres also carry their metal thickness embossed on the bottom (6.1.3).
1A1 has a fixed head with openings no wider than 7 cm and no viscosity limit in packing group I. Converting a 1A1 into a 1A2, or the reverse, counts as remanufacturing, and the drum then has to meet the rules for a new drum of its new type. 1A2V and 1A2W are special and equivalent designs that may be used wherever 1A2 is allowed.
UN 1A2/Y300/S/25/NL/VL825An open-head steel drum, approved for packing groups II and III, up to 300 kg gross, made in 2025, design approved in the Netherlands.
| Part | On the mark | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging code | 1A2 | Open-head steel drum (1 = drum, A = steel, 2 = removable head) |
| Performance level | Y | Approved for packing groups II and III (medium and low danger) |
| Maximum gross mass | 300 | 300 kg, the heaviest the filled package may weigh |
| Solids marker | S | For solids or for inner packagings, so no hydraulic pressure test applies |
| Year of manufacture | 25 | Made in 2025 |
| Approving country | NL | Design approved in the Netherlands |
| Manufacturer or approval number | VL825 | Identifies the manufacturer or the approved design, as set by the approving authority |
Another 1A2 mark, decoded: UN 1A2/Y/100/25/USA/MM5
Metal Pail with Flower Lid or Lever Ring, 4L to 35L4 to 35 litres, seventeen sizesUN status: ask us
Round Metal Bucket, 5L to 25L5 to 25 litres, four sizesUN status: ask usApproval is per design and per plant, and each design carries its own level, density and test pressure. Send your contents and we confirm the design that matches your mark.
Yes. It may carry liquids of packing groups II and III. In packing group I it takes only viscous liquids, above 200 mm2/s under the UN text or 2 680 mm2/s under ADR 2025.
Yes, if it is round. Pail-shaped packagings count as drums, so a round steel pail with a removable lid codes as 1A2. A rectangular tin codes as 3A2.
The standards and regulations this page relies on, at their issuing body. Where a market rule is named here, check the current revision before you specify against it.
Checked against the UN Model Regulations, Rev. 24, and ADR 2025 on 5 October 2026. Decode any other mark with our UN packaging code decoder.
Send what goes in them, the size and where they ship. We reply with the design certified to this code, the plant named on its certificate, and a price.