CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS The Construction
Products Regulation 2011 Barbara Sorgato, Secretary to the European Consortium of Anchor Producers
ECAP’s Barbara Sorgato provides a first consideration of new EU legislation that, over the next two years, will affect all suppliers of fasteners and fixing products to the European construction sector.
and annexes apply fully from 1st O n 4th April 2011 the new Construction Products
Regulation (CPR) No: 305/2011 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Regulation came into force on 24th
April but its major provisions July 2013, on which date it
completely replaces the Construction Products Directive (CPD).
So what is the CPR, and for which products is it conceived? The CPR is a Regulation on construction products. Unlike
a Directive the Regulation text is acknowledged and must be brought into national law by all member countries without any modifications. This enables it to have more clarity and a better applicability in the European internal market. The CPR’s objective is not to define construction products’
safety but to ensure that reliable information is presented in relation to the products’ performance. This is achieved by providing a common technical language, mainly in standards.
“ Unlike a Directive the Construction Products Regulation …must be brought into national law by all member countries without any modifications.”
Like CPD, the CPR also applies to all construction products.
It is aimed at removing technical barriers to trade in the field of construction products in order to enhance their free movement in the internal market. So let’s see what a manufacturer will have to do, from the July 2013, to ensure that their construction product can freely circulate in the European Market.
1st 74 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 69 May 2011 As in the CPD so in the CPR a “free circulating” construction
product will need a CE marking. So the manufacturer must affix a CE marking. The CE marking is just a mark, very simple to print… but by affixing it, the manufacturer becomes wholly responsible for the conformity of their product to the stated performances. These performances are declared in a “Declaration of
Performance” (DoP). So, before affixing a CE marking, the manufacturer must first draw up a Declaration of Performance. All information necessary to draw up a DoP is contained in
a harmonised standard: i.e. technical data, information on the Verification of the Constancy of the Performance of the product (VCP), list of the essential characteristics for the declared intended use of product, information on hazardous substances and on the product sustainability. So, a DoP can be issued only for a product that is covered
by a harmonised standard. The manufacturer must first check whether the product is covered by any standards.
• If so, the manufacturer has to buy the standard as published by a national standard institution. Then, he must read it, understand it and implement it. After carrying out all procedures required by the standard, the manufacturer will put all the achieved information in a DoP. After drawing up the DoP, the manufacturer can finally affix the CE marking.
• If the product is not covered by a harmonised standard, the affixing of the CE marking is not mandatory. A manufacturer who wishes to get the CE marking still has the possibility to ask for a special, product-tailored technical specification on its product: an ETA - European Technical Assessment (similar but by no means identical to a current European Technical Approval as issued by EOTA) issued on the basis of an EAD - European Assessment Document (similar but by no means identical to a current ETAG – Guideline for European Technical Approval, as issued by EOTA). EADs are not harmonised standards, so, for products covered by EADs, the affixing of the CE marking is not mandatory.
What difficulties can a manufacturer meet along the CE marking route? A product is often covered by many standards. If you have dealt
with standards related to one or more construction products at least once in your life, you know that it is hard to get clear and full information about the procedure to follow to achieve the CE marking. Once the standards are identified, the least effort is buying them. The real problem is to understand which are those
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148