The new Construction Products Regulation is bringing in major changes for UK manufacturers of construction products, when from the 1st July 2013 products within scope will be required to be CE marked.

To help manufacturers with the forthcoming changes, a second edition of the official UK guidance notes has now been published. The guidance notes can be downloaded from the link below.

The CE Marking Association also has a range of services to help manufacturers, importers and suppliers with the new Construction Products Regulation. For further information on how we can help you, please visit our CPR page.

For more help and advice on CE Marking and product compliance please call us on 01527 595066 or visit our website: www.cemarkingassociation.co.uk

The original RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC) placed restriction on the amount of hazardous substance that can be used in certain categories of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). The Directive has been in force since mid 2006, but has now been replaced on the 2nd January 2013 with a new Directive (2011/65/EU), which will be implemented in the UK by Statutory Instrument 2012 No. 3032.

The substances listed within the new Directive (known as RoHS II) do not differ to the original Directive however the following are two of the major changes:

• CE Marking: The original Directive did not have any formal marking requirements to illustrate conformity to the RoHS Directive, which lead to many manufacturers designing their own RoHS Compliant Symbol and issuing their own ‘certificate of conformity.’ The new Directive now requires manufacturers of products within scope to follow conformity assessment Module A (Internal Production Control) within the New Legislative Framework (768/2008/EC) and to affix the CE mark to the product. The manufacture must also draw up their own Declaration of Conformity, declaring conformity to the RoHS Directive. Therefore from the 2nd January 2013, all products that were under the scope of the original RoHS Directive should now be affixed with the CE Mark.
• Wider scope: The original RoHS Directive applied to 8 of the 10 categories of the WEEE Directive however RoHS II has a wider scope, which will be phased in over the next six years.
  • Medical Devices from 22nd July 2014
  • Monitoring and control instruments from 22nd July 2014
  • In vitro diagnostic medical from 22nd July 2016
  • Industrial monitoring & control instruments from 22nd July 2017
  • All Electrical & Electronic Equipment (EEE) from 22nd July 2019

For more help and advice on CE Marking and product compliance please call us on 01527 595066 or visit our website: www.cemarkingassociation.co.uk

2012-2014 Workplan:
The Commission has published its 2012-2014 Workplan for the Ecodesign Directive. A copy of the workplan can be downloaded from the DEFRA website.

New Ecopliant Website
A website for the European Ecodesign Compliance Project [Ecopliant] has now been launched. The Ecopliant project was launched on the 20th April 2012 and has the key aim of helping to deliver the economic and environmental benefits of the Ecodesign Directive by strengthening market surveillance and so increasing levels of compliance across the Single Market.

Ecopliant is being delivered through seven co-ordinated work packages focusing on different aspects of the monitoring, verification and enforcement process. Go to www.ecopliant.eu for more information.

Household Washing Machines and Dishwashers
Generic eco design requirements for household washing machines and dishwashers are set to come into force on the 1st December 2012. The requirements are set out in point 1(1) of Annex I of EC Regulation No. 1015/2010 (household washing machines) and 1016/2010 (household dishwashers).

Standby and Off Mode (Second Tier):
On the 7th January 2013 the second tier ecodesign requirements (in Annex II of EC Regulation No. 1275/2008) for Standby and Off Mode shall apply. Products covered by the Standby and Off Mode Regulation predominately covers equipment for use in domestic environments (such as microwaves, television sets and toys) and a full list can be viewed in Annex I of the Regulation.

For more help and advice on CE Marking and product compliance please call us on 01527 595066 or visit our website: www.cemarkingassociation.co.uk

Two Commission Delegated Directives (2012/50/EU and 2012/51/EU) have been published on the European Commission’s website on the Official Journal, which amend Annex III of the new RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU), which comes into force on the 2nd January 2013. Annex III of the RoHS Directive contains the applications exempted from the restrictions on the maximum concentration values of the hazardous substances listed within Annex II of the Directive.

Amending Directive 2012/50/EU covers the inclusion of point 7 (c)-IV: Lead in PZT based dielectric ceramic materials for capacitors which are part of integrated circuits or discrete semiconductors.

Amending Directive 2012/51/EU covers the inclusion of point 40: Cadmium in photoresistors for analogue optocouplers applied in professional audio equipment

For more help and advice on CE Marking and product compliance please call us on 01527 595066 or visit our website: www.cemarkingassociation.co.uk