GB 20097-2025Protective clothing - General requirements (English PDF)

Foreword

This document was issued on 29 August 2025 by the 2025-8-29 Implementation on 2026-9-1 and takes effect on 1 September 2026.

It is a GB standard without the /T suffix: compliance is mandatory in China.

The document runs to 30 pages in translation. The identification, the dates, the table of contents and the clauses reproduced on this page are taken from the standard itself.

GB 20097-2025 Protective clothing—General requirements English, Anglais, Englisch, Inglés, えいご

(ISO 13688:2013, Protective clothing—General requirements, ISO 13688:2013/Amd 1:2021, Protective clothing—General requirements, AMENDMENT 1, MOD)

State Administration for Market Regulation, Standardization Administration of China

It replaces GB/T 20097-2006, which is superseded.

1 Scope

GB 20097-2025 is the Chinese general standard for protective clothing, and the change that matters is in the number: the 2006 edition was GB/T, recommended; this one is GB, mandatory. It sets the requirements that apply to every kind of protective garment before any hazard-specific standard is considered: the types of protective clothing, the general technical requirements, the innocuousness of the materials in contact with the skin, the ergonomics and the sizing system, the ageing and the compatibility of the components, the marking and the information the manufacturer has to supply with the garment. It is a modified adoption of ISO 13688:2013 together with its Amendment 1 of 2021, so a garment already certified to EN ISO 13688 starts from a familiar place, but the Chinese deviations are what decide the certification. Effective 1 September 2026. For a manufacturer or an importer of workwear, PPE or specialist protective garments selling into China, this is the base standard everything else sits on.

This document specifies the types, general technical requirements, sizes, labeling, packaging, and storage of protective clothing.

-- This document applies to protective clothing for torso protection. This document does not apply to protective clothing for special applications such as nuclear radiation and aerospace.

2 Normative References

The contents of the following documents, through normative references, constitute essential provisions of this document. For dated references, only the version corresponding to that date applies to this document. For undated references, the latest version (including all amendments) applies to this document. GB/T 1335.1 Men's Clothing Sizes

GB/T 1335.2 Women's Clothing Sizes

GB/T 2912.1 Textiles - Determination of Formaldehyde - Part 1: Free and Hydrolyzed Formaldehyde (Water Extraction Method)

GB/T 5296.4 Instructions for Use of Consumer Products - Part 4: Textiles and Clothing

GB/T 7573 Textiles - Determination of pH of Aqueous Extracts

GB/T 8629 Textile Testing - Domestic Washing and Drying Procedures

GB/T 8630 Textiles - Determination of Dimensional Change After Washing and Drying

GB/T 8685 Textile Care Labeling - Symbols

GB/T 12903-2008 Terminology for Personal Protective Equipment

GB/T 16160 Definitions and Methods of Measurement for Anthropometric Measurements of Clothing

GB/T 17592 Determination of the Containment of Banned Azo Dyes in Textiles

GB/T 19981.1 Professional Care, Dry Cleaning, and Wet Cleaning of Textiles and Garments - Part 1: Evaluation of Performance After Cleaning and Ironing

GB/T 19981.2 Professional Care, Dry Cleaning, and Wet Cleaning of Textiles and Garments - Part 2: Performance Testing Procedures for Dry Cleaning and Ironing Using Perchloroethylene

GB/T 19981.3 Professional Care, Dry Cleaning, and Wet Cleaning of Textiles and Garments - Part 3: Performance Testing Procedures for Dry Cleaning and Ironing Using Hydrocarbon Solvents

GB/T 19981.4 Professional Care, Dry Cleaning, and Wet Cleaning of Textiles and Garments - Part 4: Performance Testing Procedures for Simulated Wet Cleaning and Ironing

GB/T 23344 Determination of 4-Aminoazobenzene in Textiles

GB 39800.1-2020 Specification for the Use of Personal Protective Equipment - Part 1: General

FZ/T 81007 Single and Double-layer Clothing

ISO 15797 Textiles—Industrial Washing and Finishing Procedures for Testing of Workwear

3 Terms and Definitions

The terms and definitions defined in GB/T 12903-2008 and the following terms and definitions apply to this document.

3.1

Hazard

Potential source of harm.

Note: Hazards can be of different types, such as mechanical hazards, physical, chemical, and biological hazards, hazards from adverse climates or environments (e.g., low temperatures), flame and heat hazards, low visibility hazards, and radiation hazards. The specific form of these hazards is determined by the environment. For example, thermal hazards include exposure to high temperatures and radiant heat, and different test methods can be used for each type of thermal hazard. Protective clothing can be designed to protect against hazards encountered in specific types of work, such as chemical protective clothing, welding clothing, and anti-static clothing.

3.2

Risk

A combination of the likelihood of a hazard occurring and its severity.

3.3

Protective clothing

Protective clothing for the body that protects against physical, chemical, and biological external factors. [Source: GB/T 12903-2008, 10.1.1]

Note: This includes flame-retardant clothing, thermal insulation clothing, and anti-static clothing.

3.4

Aging

The change over time in one or more physical, chemical, or technical properties of protective clothing materials or protective clothing as a whole compared to their initial state.

3.5

Performance Level

A numerical value indicating a specific category or performance range, used to grade test results.

3.6

Type

A code for identical products manufactured by the same manufacturer using the same materials and processes, with the same structure, protective function, and level of protection.

[Source: GB 39800.1-2020, 2.4]

Note: When material color does not affect the product's protective function, material color is not used to distinguish the product's type.

4 Type of Protective Clothing

Protective clothing with at least one protective function is classified into a certain type based on its protective function or intended use. Typical protective clothing types are as follows:

— Chemical protective clothing;

— Flame-retardant clothing;

— Welding clothing;

— Thermal insulation clothing;

— Molten metal splash protective clothing;

— Antistatic clothing;