The Construction Products Regulation No. (EU) 305/2011 has now come into force and now requires Construction Products to be CE marked. The new Regulation, which came in force from the 1st July 2013 applies to products that are intended for permanent incorporation into a building or civil engineering works.
The old Directive (89/106/EEC) that has been replaced by the new Regulation, was required mandatory throughout most of Europe, except for a handful of member states (including the UK and Ireland) which opted to make the application of the Directive voluntary. Therefore leading to the majority of Construction Products within the UK never being CE marked. This situation has now changed and where a Construction Product is in scope it now MUST be CE marked.
The Regulation sets out harmonised rules on how to express the performance of the product in relation to its essential characteristics, which have been laid down in harmonised technical specification (such as a European Standards). Where a harmonised standard applies to a manufacturer’s product, they are required to draw up a Declaration of Performance and affix the CE mark.
Therefore not all Construction Products can be CE marked; it is only those products which are covered by a standard that is harmonised and listed in the Official Journal under the Construction Products Regulation shall be required to be CE Marked. (Although a voluntary route does exist and other CE marking Directives or Regulations may apply). Another important factor is that even where a harmonised standard does exist, the co-existence period may allow a manufacturer to refrain from CE marking until that co-existence period comes to an end. The standard, EN 1090-1, covering structural steelwork is a good example, as the co-existence period does not end until 1st July 2014.
The list of harmonised standards under the Construction Products was also updated just a few days before the Regulation came into force, so it is worth checking to see if any new standards have entered the list that may affect your products.
If you need further help and support with the Construction Products Regulation, then the CE Marking Association is running FREE ½ day seminars, with 1-on-1 sessions at the end of the seminar to help put manufacturers, importers and distributors on the right track.
Useful Links:
Next FREE Seminar: 7th August 2013
Official Journal and harmonised standards: Construction Products Regulation
