Harmonised European standards provide a technical basis to assess the performance of construction products. They enable manufacturers to draw up the Declaration of Performance as defined in the Construction Products Regulation, and affix the CE marking.
What are harmonised standards for
Harmonised European standards create a common technical language used by all actors in the construction sector to:
- define requirements (regulatory authorities in EU countries);
- declare the product’s performance (manufacturers);
- verify compliance with requirements and demands (design engineers, contractors).
Supporting testing standards relevant to construction products cover:
- resistance to fire, reaction to fire, external fire performance, noise absorption;
- construction products in contact with drinking water;
- release of dangerous substances into indoor air, soil and (ground)water;
Harmonised European standards on construction products are developed by technical experts from the European Standardisation Organisations (CEN/CENELEC). The Technical Committees of CEN and CENELEC are working on completing the necessary set of harmonised European standards and test standards, and further improving existing ones.
Benefits of harmonised standards for the construction sector
- common assessment methods for construction products
- a single European scheme for declaring product performance.
These actions remove barriers to trade and thus help improve the competitiveness of the construction sector.