History

“Construction Products” Directive and Regulation

On December 21st, 1988, the Council of the European Communities has adopted Directive 89/106/CEE relating to construction products. On March 9th, 2011, the “Construction Products Directive” (CPD) is repealed and replaced by Regulation 305/2011 mandatory in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States of the European Union.

The “Construction Products Regulation” (CPR) lays down “conditions for the placing or making available on the market of construction products by establishing harmonised rules on how to express the performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics and on the use of CE marking on those products.”

A “product of construction” is “any product or kit which is produced and placed on the market for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works or parts thereof and the performance of which has an effect on the performance of the construction works with respect to the seven basic requirements for construction works”: mechanical resistance and stability, safety in case of fire, hygiene, health and the environment, safety and accessibility in use, protection against noise, energy economy and heat retention, sustainable use of natural resources.

The construction products concerned are those which are covered by a European harmonised standard “hEN” or in conformity with a European Technical Assessment “ETA”.

CE marking becomes mandatory and the manufacturers must draw up a declaration of performance “DoP” for these products when they are placed on the market.

The European harmonised standards “hEN” are established by CEN “European Committee for Standardization” and the European Technical Assessment “ATE” are delivered by the Technical Assessment Bodies “TAB” on the basis of a European Assessment Document “EAD” adopted by EOTA “European Organisation for Technical Assessment”.

Products, systems and services in the field of construction which are not covered by the EU legislation

For the products not covered by existing EU harmonised legislations, other markings may be used, provided that they help to improve the protection of users of construction products. It is the same for related services to the construction, such as implementation of any type of construction product.

Two sector committees are in charge of the preparation of the certification rules and regulations, the management of the procedures for processing certification applications and the renewal of the certificates.