This standard defines the limit state for the safe operation of railway vehicles for standard gauge width and their components. It shall be applied provided that the vehicles are operated on a public railway infrastructure. The minimum requirements laid down in the standards for the processes for observing the desired condition of the railway vehicles are also to be applied. In addition, this standard should also be observed when designing new constructions when constructive precautions are to be taken to ensure compliance with the operating limit criteria. NOTE 1 The structural design for a confortable maintenance check of the operating limits should be considered. NOTE 2 The applicability of this standard to railway vehicles of other track widths and their components may be examined in individual cases. This standard applies to block brakes of railway vehicles and treats the mechanical part of the single-block and double-acting block brakes and describes the technical condition of the following assemblies: a) brake linkage including slack adjuster and friction elements (friction brake pads); b) handbrake / parking brake; c) operating and action devices; d) brake cylinder (without function test). Recommendations for compact braking units are given in an informative Annex A.