Plant Management
Fig. 1. ECS has proven that it has all the required attributes to apply the CE mark to its steel fabrications.
Ensuring steel quality
John Cotterill outlines the requirements and the processes steel fabricators have to face in achieving CE certification.
John Cotterill fasst die Anforderungen und Prozesse zusammen, die Stahlhersteller erfüllen müssen, um die CE-Zertifizierung zu erhalten.
John Cotterill expose les conditions requises et les processus auxquels les fabricants d’acier sont confrontés lorsqu’ils cherchent à obtenir la certification CE.
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his July marked the point when all fabricated structural steelwork must meet the harmonised European standard BS EN 1090 and
carry the CE mark. CE marking is common on a wide
range of consumer products and it provides a guarantee of safety, which is now being applied to the steel construction industry. Originally introduced in 1991, the Construction Products Directive (CPD) was never seen as mandatory in the UK but in 2013 the new Construction Products Regulations were released, making CE marking mandatory. The main difference being that unlike a directive, a European Regulation must be upheld by all member states and it is enforced by criminal law. For a steel fabricating company
such as ECS, investing in the people and processes necessary to achieve certification is essential in order to
maintain one of its core businesses. For this reason, ECS began the process nearly two years ago by investing in training for two welding coordinators, who have been certified by the British Constructional Steel Association (BCSA). Each business will have to decide the
level of execution in which its products will be used and under BS EN 9010-2 determine the most appropriate class. For ECS it was the more arduous EXC3 which includes buildings and bridges but excludes special structures, such as long span bridges. This means that the quality processes and manufacturing expertise is appropriate for EXC3 projects as well as all those in the lower classifications. Under BS EN 1090, a Factory
Production Control (FPC) needs to be implemented, covering welding consumables, welding equipment, materials provided by approved suppliers, ensuring traceability of every component from source through the
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