Any supply of the (individual) construction product for the first time within the European Internal Market for distribution or use in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge.
NB: Every product or batch of products (that is, every window or every package / truckload of bricks) is placed on the market individually. The fact that similar products have been marketed before, does not change this. Therefore, manufacturers have to draw up a Declaration of Performance (DoP) and affix the CE marking pursuant to the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) for all the products entering the market from 01/07/2013 onwards, even if similar products had been commercialised before this date.
It is the documentation which the manufacturer considers appropriate in order to justify the manner he uses to declare the performance of the product in the cases foreseen in Article 36 of the CPR.
In the case of Article 36(1)a the Appropriate Technical Documentation may e.g. be used to demonstrate that the specific conditions are met for the application of a Commission Decision defining the reaction to fire class of the product.
In the cases of Article 36(1)b or 36(1)c the Appropriate Technical Documentation may e.g. consist of the test results obtained by another manufacturer, or the system provider, together with his authorisation to use these results, and the justifications for the correspondence of the products in question (point b) or for due respect of the instructions given (point c).
It is understood that the Appropriate Technical Documentation could well be different from one situation or construction product to the other, according to the particularities of each case. It will be kept by the manufacturer of the construction product in the technical file of the product in order to allow him to properly justify the Declaration of Performance (DoP) in case market surveillance or other authorities require so.
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is the directly applicable legislation in every EU Member State. Therefore in such cases, of course, it is this legislation which prevails. The consequence is that such conflicting clauses of standards cannot be applied.
The CEN Technical Committees have undertaken the work to iron out the soonest possible any such inconsistencies in the harmonised standards but it can not be excluded that some inconsistencies may remain after 01/07/2013, presumably for a short time only.
Any interested person can obtain such information from the national Product Contact Point for Construction (406 kB) established by each Member State.
The legal acts based on the Construction Products Directive (CPD) (Commission Decisions) and, later on the CPR foresee the kind and level of intervention of the 3rd party. As a result, both harmonised technical specifications (harmonised European standards, or the European Assessment Documents), contain the necessary detailed tasks for the Notified Bodies in order to ensure the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (the so called “AVCP tasks”). These are the tasks which the Notified Bodies are expected to fulfil in the framework of the CPR.
Notified Bodies are expected to completely refrain from activities belonging to the area of market surveillance (as these are to be undertaken by the national market surveillance authorities), or from verifying the compliance of the manufacturer with his obligations under the CPR.
As an example, it is not for Notified Bodies to check if the manufacturer has correctly drawn up the Declaration of Performance (DoP), or if the manufacturer has correctly affixed the CE marking.
These digits refer to the year that these kinds of products were made available on the market for the first time and therefore they will remain unchanged over the years as long as the performance of the product has not changed. In practice, this means that if the manufacturer has marketed similar CE marked products corresponding to a certain set of performance (a given product-type) from 2009 onwards, these two digits continue to be 09 even after 01/07/2013, when the CE marking will undergo some changes due to the CPR.
The declared performance of the product is expected to be achieved under the condition that the product is correctly installed. This is particularly relevant for products which are sold as a kit in order to be installed in the final construction work.
Therefore, the role of the installation manual or installation instructions, which are to be provided pursuant to Article 11(6) of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) by the manufacturer, is very important to ensure the correct installation of the product.
No, not under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). Article 4(1) of the CPR links the obligation to make a DoP to the existence of a harmonised standard or a European Technical Assessment (ETA) issued for a given product. Therefore, a DoP under the CPR cannot be based on other national product standards.
However, in the non-harmonised sphere, products not covered by hENs can be subjected to requirements by Member State authorities. Therefore, it cannot be excluded that a public authority would demand the manufacturer to declare the performance of the product outside the CPR structure. In these cases, the products cannot be CE marked pursuant to the CPR, either.
Latest lists of harmonised European standards (hEN).
No. Quality or private marks, let alone those with national connotations, are not allowed to cover any characteristics already included in the hEN. This goes also for situations where the manufacturer has not declared the performance of his product in relation to some characteristics (i.e. has used the “No Performance Declared” option referred to in Article 6(3)(f) of the CPR) Since Article 4(2) of the CPR renders the use of the declaration of performance (the DoP) the only manner to declare this performance and Article 8(3) mandates the CE marking as the only mark which attests conformity of construction products with the declared performance, the manufacturer cannot turn to other options here.
Under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), quality or private marks are not allowed to cover characteristics already included in harmonised European standards (hENs) (see Article 8(3) of the CPR). Therefore, the performance in relation to essential characteristics included in harmonised European standards (hENs) can only be attested using the CE marking.
For products not covered by hENs, national provisions or installation practices referring to national marks shall not discriminate against products which do not bear such marks.
No. Essential characteristics included in hENs cannot be attested again in any kind of other (public or private) marks for construction products than the CE marking. (see Articles 4(2) and 8(3) of the CPR).
Yes, this is possible for products not covered by harmonised European standards (hEN) or if the national technical specification transposes hENs (see Article 17(5) of the Construction Products Regulation - CPR). However, the national technical specification shall respect the limits imposed by the CPR (Article 8(4)-(6)) and comply with other applicable EU legislation (for example, the notification in conformity with Directive 98/34/EC) as well as with the provisions governing free movement of goods in non-harmonised sectors.
Member States retain their competence to set technical requirements for the performance of construction products, in particular for specific uses of the products in a building or civil engineering work (e.g. fire safety requirements for escape routes). In case these national technical requirements imply limits to the use of CE-marked construction products, these limits need to be duly justified and proportionate. The European Court of Justice interprets narrowly the list of derogations which all relate to non-economic interests. Moreover, any measure must respect the principle of proportionality and not constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States. In any case, the burden of proof in justifying the measures lies with the Member State and not with the economic operator.
Retailers (the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) calls them distributors) making construction products available on the market on their own (trade) names are indeed considered manufacturers (cf. Article 15). Therefore, they need to draw up their own DoPs for these products.
The involvement of Notified Bodies (see Article 39 of the CPR) depends on the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP) system applicable to the product in question (see Article 28 and Annex V of the CPR). This information may be found both in the applicable harmonised standard (hEN) and in the respective Commission Decision on these systems.
To avoid unnecessary administrative burdens, the DoPs and the initial testing serving to draw up the DoP do not need to be repeated, unless the circumstances have changed (for example, the production process and/or the performance of the product have been altered).
However, construction products for which a DoP is issued are subject to continuing testing and surveillance after the first product is placed on the market to ensure that the production process and the performance of the product conforms to these declared under the DoP.
No. While construction products also are covered by EU harmonisation legislation, the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), the content and concepts used are different from other harmonisation systems.
Under 'competent national authority' one should understand not only the market surveillance authorities (organised at national, regional or even local level), but also any other authority which under the legislation of the Member State has the right to request information on the performance of construction products.
This could be e.g. the Building Permits Authority in a region which has the right to request information on the performance of products installed in a building, in the framework of checking if the building under construction complies with the conditions of the permit.
Art 9(2) of the CPR clearly states that “The CE marking shall be followed by …, the reference number of the declaration of performance, the level or class of the performance declared, the reference to …”
As NPD (= No Performance Determined) for an essential characteristic means that the performance is not declared, the manufacturer should not mention in the CE marking the essential characteristics for which he declares NPD in the Declaration of Performance.
The contact address may be anywhere in the world (either in any country of the EU or in any other third country).
The national market surveillance authorities are primarily responsible for investigating cases of suspicion about the legality of product certificate/test reports issued under the CPR. However, a quick preliminary check may be done, via the NANDO information tool, in order to find out if the Notified Body is competent to issue a given product certificate/test report as follows.
1) If the certificate/test report has been issued BEFORE 1/7/2013,
2) If the certificate/test report has been issued AFTER 1/7/2013
Looking on the corresponding website you should be able to find the EN which is covering the product and then, if you click on this EN you will be transferred to a list of all notified bodies which have the authorisation to issue certificates/test reports for this specific product BEFORE 1/7/2013 (or AFTER 1/7/2013 in the second case). If the certificate/test report has been issued by one of the bodies mentioned in this list, the certificate is most probably a genuine one.
If the European standard (EN) is not mentioned in any of the two NANDO lists of harmonised standards indicated above, or if the notified body is not in the list of notified bodies for the specific EN, you will most probably be faced with a false certificate / test report or with a certificate from a body which is NOT a notified body under the Construction Products Directive / Regulation.
In these last two cases contact the market surveillance authorities of the country in which the product is sold.
It might also prove helpful to contact the notified body in order to ask for confirmation of the authenticity of the certificate / test report.
The CE marking has to be affixed on a construction product on the basis of the harmonised standard EN 1090-1:2009+A1:2011 when all the following conditions are satisfied:
- the product is covered by the scope of EN 1090-1:2009+A1:2011 (please find the indicative, non-exhaustive list of products (266 kB) not covered by the scope of EN 1090-1:2009+A1:2011 as provided by CEN),
- and the product is a structural construction product within the meaning of the Construction Products Regulation (EU) 305/2011 which means:
- the product is intended to be incorporated in a permanent manner in construction works (buildings or civil engineering works), and
- the product has a structural function in relation to the construction work (i.e. its failure will affect the satisfaction of Basic Work Requirement 1 as detailed in Annex I of Regulation EU 305/2011).
- and the product is not covered by a dedicated European product specification (because if a specific harmonised EN, or an European Technical Approval Guideline (ETAG) or an European Technical Approval, or an European Technical Assessment (ETA) for this product exists, the basis for the CE marking is the relevant specific harmonised EN, or the ETApproval, or the ETAssessment).
Note 1:Wind turbines and their towers are outside of the scope of EN 1090-1 and of any harmonised standard under the CPR. Therefore, they cannot be CE marked under the CPR. A future version of EN 1090-1 will explicitly clarify that wind turbine towers are excluded from the scope of the standard.
The wind turbine system, i.e. the system with driven moving parts, is under the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (MD) and must comply with the MD (hence, that system must be CE marked under the MD). As regards the tower, it needs to be seen on a case-by case basis if any elements of the tower fall within the scope of the MD. When the tower is made available on the market together with the wind turbine system, the manufacturer of the said system must ensure that the system, combined with that tower, meets the essential requirements of the MD that relate to stability. See the MD application guide.
Nevertheless, wind turbine towers can be assessed using the methods in EN 1090-1 (or others) to fulfil the stability requirements under the MD or (where applicable) under national law.
In addition, a wind turbine as fixed installation is subject to the relevant provisions of Directive 2014/30/EU on electromagnetic compatibility (EMCD) and the components of a wind turbine, when they are placed on the market, may be subject to the EMCD or other EU legislation. More details on the EMCD.
Note 2:'Common' fences and railings (balustrades) which merely have the function of preventing a person from falling are not structural products because they do not support (a part of) the structure. In general their failure will affect the satisfaction of Basic Work Requirement 4 – Safety and accessibility in use (as detailed in Annex I of Regulation EU 305/2011) rather than Basic Work Requirement 1 (mechanical resistance and stability). For this reason, these common balustrades cannot be CE marked on the basis of standard EN 1090-1. However, balustrades which do have a role in supporting the structure of the construction work or parts of it have a structural function, i.e. their performance may affect the mechanical resistance and stability of e.g. a building AND they prevent a person from falling, thus are covered by EN 1090-1 and must therefore be placed on the EU market with a DoP and the CE marking.
Note 3: Elaborations under Note 2 also apply to staircases.
Only those versions of standards which are formally cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) may serve as the basis for drawing up the Declaration of Performance (DoP) for a construction product and affixing the CE marking to it. Standards are assessed by the Commission in line with Article 17(5) of the CPR and then cited in the OJEU about twice a year. Coexistence (transitional) periods are determined in order to allow member states, manufacturers and notified bodies to adapt to the requirements of the CPR and hEN-related AVCP procedures.
The list of cited standards can be found at the following link (NANDO) - see also FAQ 16 above:
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/nando/index.cfm?fuseaction=cp.hs&cpr=Y#hs.
Example: A new version (EN XYZ:2014) of a standard has been developed by CEN and is published on the CEN website, while the old version (EN XYZ:2005) has been withdrawn from it. As long as the new version (EN XYZ:2014) is not cited in the OJEU, the old standard (EN XYZ:2005) is the only standard serving as the basis to draw up the DoP and to CE-mark the product. During the coexistence period both “old” or “new” versions of the standard cited in the OJEU can be used for DoP/CE marking purposes. After the end of the coexistence period only the “new” version of the hEN is applicable. The manufacturer shall clearly indicate which version he uses to CE mark.
The CPR says in Article 8(2): “By affixing […] the CE marking, manufacturers indicate that they take responsibility for the conformity of the construction product with the declared performance as well as the compliance with all applicable requirements laid down in this Regulation and in other relevant Union harmonisation legislation providing for its affixing.”
In practical terms, the CE marking of a construction product indicates that, concerning the CPR, it has been assessed (tested) based on the applicable harmonised technical specification (harmonised standards and European Assessment Documents). The results of this assessment can thus be trusted throughout the construction value chain and be interpreted on the same basis across the EU. Furthermore concerning the other applicable EU legislation providing for its affixing, the CE marking indicates that the product complies with all their applicable requirements.
Therefore, the CE marking enables construction products to move across all EU Member States, avoiding new assessments and certifications.
Accompanying the product, the copy of the Declaration of Performance (DoP) provides precise and reliable information on the performance obtained using the assessment methods provided by the applicable harmonised technical specification (harmonised standards and European Assessment Documents).
Indeed, most construction products may have very different intended uses in buildings or civil engineering works and may have to fulfil different performance requirements. Therefore, it will always be left to the project designer to correctly prescribe the product to be used in the specific construction project and to the constructor/end user to purchase the product with the prescribed performance for the specific intended use.
Example: For the construction of a small garden divider one can use bricks of lower compressive strength, not intended to be used for loadbearing applications, instead of bricks which are necessary for the structural elements of a building. Both kinds of bricks are however CE marked and are legally placed on the EU market. Therefore, the DoP plays an important role in providing the necessary information to the user of the product.
The same product may be covered not only by the CPR but also by other EU harmonisation legislations. For example, the CPR, Machinery Directive, Low Voltage Directive and Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive are all applicable at the same time to remote controlled power operated garage doors because these different legal acts cover different requirements.
For products covered by a harmonised standard the DoP under the CPR needs to be based on the applicable hEN cited in the OJEU. The conformity of the product with hENs cited under other EU legislation (e.g. New Approach Directives) would need to be declared using the declaration of conformity or other document as required by this other legislation.
In principle, the applicability of several harmonised standards to one product in support of different harmonised legislations should always be cross-referenced in the relevant hENs. However, only one CE marking is affixed on the product for the purposes of the CPR and the other applicable EU legislation providing for its affixing as explained in Article 8(2) of the CPR.
A manufacturer always has to declare the performance of at least one essential characteristic (Article 6(3)(c) of the CPR)
When deciding upon this, he shall take into consideration the (national, regional and local) provisions in place in relation to the intended uses of his product where he intends it to be made available on the market.
In addition, the performance shall be declared for a given essential characteristic when:
- a delegated act (based on Articles 3(3) and 60(a) of the CPR) obliges the manufacturer to declare the performance for it (Article 6(3)(d) of the CPR) (with or without a threshold level also determined in this act);
or
- a European Technical Assessment (ETA) has been issued for this product (Article 6(3)(g) of the CPR): the obligation to declare concerns all the essential characteristics contained in the ETA.
Furthermore, when a threshold level of performance has been established in a harmonised standard for a given essential characteristic of a product, the manufacturer shall ensure that the performance of his product meets the threshold level. He shall also demonstrate this to the competent authorities upon request. For these reasons, it is advisable for the manufacturer to declare also this specific performance.
Finally, for the listed essential characteristics for which no performance is declared, NPD (No Performance Determined) shall be inserted into the declaration of performance (Article 6(3)(f) of the CPR).
The legally binding information is provided in the Official Journal of the European Union – series C. There the Commission is publishing the titles of all harmonised European standards for construction products adopted under the framework of the CPR.
The Commission´s NANDO database is regularly updated and in addition provides information on Notified Bodies. However, it cannot be used as legally binding reference, even though its content can be expected to be identical to the references in the Official Journal of the EU.
See the SME definition.
Yes. Annex ZA lists the contents of harmonised standards that are relevant for the CPR. When applying a standard as a harmonised standard under the Construction Products Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011, cited in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), manufacturers and Member States are obliged by this regulation to use Annex ZA.
For example, a manufacturer of a construction product covered by a harmonised product standard will need to use the standard and its Annex ZA. There they will find the essential characteristics and how to declare performance. The manufacturer can find information on which of these essential characteristics are relevant to the requirements in Member States concerning the use of these products (such as building regulations) from the National Product Contact Points.
Also, Member States' public authorities are expected to align their provisions for building and civil engineering works abiding by the essential characteristics in Annex ZA relevant for their requirements.
Note: Many of the existing harmonised standards for construction products were written in the context of the Construction Products Directive (CPD) which preceded the CPR. In some cases, this has caused the examples cited in Annex ZA not to be aligned with the principles of the CPR. However, in these cases, the CPR prevails.
A product is a construction product in the meaning of the CPR if it is a product or kit which is produced and placed on the market for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works (buildings or any civil engineering works) or parts thereof and the performance of which has an effect on the performance of the construction works with respect to the basic requirements for construction works.
The basic requirements for construction works are:
- 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
If your product is a construction product, there are three possibilities:
- Compulsory CE marking: If the product is covered by a harmonised standard (see FAQ nº 1, 16 and an example under FAQ nº 31), manufacturers have to apply it, draw up a Declaration of Performance (DoP) and affix the CE marking.
- Voluntary CE marking: If the product is not covered by a harmonised standard manufacturers can but are not obliged to request a European Technical Assessment (ETA) (see Art. 21 of the CPR). If the manufacturer obtains an ETA, he has to use it to draw up a Declaration of Performance (DoP) and affix the CE marking.
- Mutual recognition: If the product is not covered by a harmonised product standard or an ETA is not issued for it, mutual recognition will apply. This means that a product on the market of one Member State can freely be marketed in all Member States. The only exceptions are if Member States have national requirements justified by health and safety concerns. As long as a product falls only under this bullet point (mutual recognition) it is not allowed to bear the CE mark under the CPR.
In each of these possibilities, the CE marking might be required under other relevant EU legislation, such as for example the Machinery or Low Voltage Directives.
The declaration of performance (DoP) must be supplied in the language or the languages required by the Member State where the product is made available.
Manufacturers must supply safety information and instructions in the language or languages which can be easily understood by users as determined by the Member State where the product is made available.
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) does not prescribe the language to be used in the technical documentation nor in the CE marking.
Retailers (the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) calls them distributors) shall ensure that the product, where required, bears the CE marking and is accompanied by a copy of the declaration of performance and, where applicable, safety data sheets (see Art. 6(5) of the CPR)), and by instructions and safety information, in a language determined by the Member State where the product is made available (see list of languages required by Member States (271 KB)).