The UN-rated fibreboard box: when it carries liquids, its limits and the drop tests behind the mark.
UN 4G is the packaging code for a box of solid or corrugated fibreboard, with a net mass limit of 400 kg. It carries liquids only as the outer box of a combination packaging, around bottles, cans or jerricans that hold the liquid.
Decode a full 4G mark Ask for 4G containers
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
4 | Box: rectangular or polygonal faces |
G | Fibreboard, solid or corrugated |
| Maximum net mass | 400 kg (6.1.4.12) |
|---|---|
| Inner packagings for liquids | Glass up to 10 litres, plastics up to 30 litres, metal up to 40 litres each (P001) |
As the outer of a combination packaging for liquids, P001 allows 75 kg in packing group I and 400 kg in II and III.
Liquids only inside inner packagings, as a combination packaging. Solids as a single packaging in packing groups II and III only. The outer surface may absorb no more than 155 g of water per square metre in 30 minutes by the Cobb method, and glued or taped closures use a water-resistant adhesive (6.1.4.12).
| Test | What the design has to survive | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Drop | Five samples, one drop each: flat on the bottom, the top, a long side and a short side, and on a corner, from 1.8 m, 1.2 m or 0.8 m by packing group. The inner packagings must stay inside and not leak. | 6.1.5.3 |
| 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 |
| Conditioning | Held for at least 24 hours at a set temperature and humidity before testing, because fibreboard strength moves with moisture. | 6.1.5.2.3 |
The box is tested with the inner packagings it will carry. Leakproofness and pressure tests do not apply to it.
No period-of-use limit applies to fibreboard boxes, and the regulations provide no reconditioning route for them.
4GV is a special packaging tested with fragile inner packagings of liquid at the packing group I height. It may then carry other inner packagings without a new test, provided their total gross mass is no more than half the tested figure, the cushioning stays the same and liquids sit in enough absorbent. A 4GV may be used wherever a 4G is allowed.
UN 4G/Y145/S/25/NL/VL823A fibreboard box, approved for packing groups II and III, up to 145 kg gross, made in 2025, design approved in the Netherlands.
| Part | On the mark | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging code | 4G | Fibreboard box (4 = box, G = fibreboard) |
| Performance level | Y | Approved for packing groups II and III (medium and low danger) |
| Maximum gross mass | 145 | 145 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 | VL823 | Identifies the manufacturer or the approved design, as set by the approving authority |
We do not make this type of packaging. Send the contents and we will source a certified design.
Only as the outer of a combination packaging, around inner packagings that hold the liquid: glass up to 10 litres, plastics up to 30 litres and metal up to 40 litres each.
S means the design was tested for solids or inner packagings. 145 is the maximum gross mass in kilograms, and Y the packing groups II and III.
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.