This document specifies methods of deriving reduction factors for geosynthetic drainage materials to account for intrusion of filter geotextiles, compression creep, and chemical and biological degradation. It is intended to provide a link between the test data and the codes for design with geosynthetic drains.

The geosynthetics covered include those whose primary purpose is planar drainage, such as geonets, cuspated cores only, or cuspated cores combined with laminated filter geotextiles, and drainage liners, where the drainage core is made from polypropylene and high-density polyethylene. The majority of geosynthetic drains are geocomposites with geotextiles laminated to a drainage core and it is important, where possible, to consider the drainage behaviour of the geocomposite as a whole rather than the behaviour of the component parts in isolation.

This document does not cover the strength of overlaps or joints between geosynthetic drains nor whether these might be more or less durable than the basic material. It does not apply to geomembranes, for example, in landfills. It does not cover the effects of dynamic loading nor any change in mechanical properties due to soil temperatures below 0 °C, or the effects of frozen soil. This document does not cover uncertainty in the design of the drainage structures, nor the human or economic consequences of failure. Design guidance for geosynthetic drains is found in ISO/TR 18228-4.