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EU Construction Products Regulation

by Michael Smith
NBS Information Specialist

On 18 January 2011, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). The vote followed the unanimous endorsement of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) on 10 January 2011, following a previous agreement, reached with the Council in December 2010.

The vote means the Regulation should be adopted in the next few months. EU Regulations normally enter into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). However, many of the provisions of the CPR will not apply until 1 July 2013, as a transition period is needed.

The Construction Products regulation will lay down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products; it will also repeal and replace the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC (as amended by 1993/68/EEC – the CPD).

Summary

The legislation is the European Union Commission's proposal for a new Construction Products Regulation, concerning the internal market for construction products. The draft Regulation lays out the conditions for CE marking for construction products and a 'passport' which demonstrates that a product has been assessed against a harmonised European standard.

The aim of the Regulation is to address some perceived problems with the text of the current Directive and the ways in which it has been implemented, rather than to completely revise existing processes for CE marking. The early completion of negotiations will mean that some of the provisions of the Regulation may be applied in the UK as early as July of this year.

The main implication for the UK is that it will become mandatory for construction products which fall under the scope of the Regulation to make a declaration of their performance and to carry the CE mark to demonstrate this, before they can be put on the market in the UK or Europe. The UK is one of only four Member States that currently has voluntary CE marking.

The Regulation also marks a response to concerns that the CE marking process can be slow and costly. The draft Regulation contains new measures for simplified procedures for micro-enterprises and producers of bespoke products; changes are also proposed to the system for CE marking of innovative and novel products.

New Approach review

The legislation also needs to be viewed in the wider context of the 'New Approach' review of the suite of CE marking Directives. The principles of this review include increasing the credibility of CE marking and improving market surveillance. These issues have already been consulted on and agreed in the UK by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), and have now been adopted at the EU level as a Regulation and a Decision that together forms the New Legislative Framework (NLF).

Sustainability

The draft Regulation makes specific mention of the sustainability of construction products, through a new 'basic works requirement', which means that where Member States choose to legislate for environmental performance of products, this can be shown as part of the declaration associated with CE marking and expressed in harmonised terms across the EU.

Amendments adopted by the Commission

The amendments adopted in plenary, at the second reading, are the result of a compromise reached between the European Parliament and the Council. These amendments are:

Declaration of performance: in order to avoid an empty declaration of performance, at least one of the essential characteristics of a construction product which are relevant for the declared use or uses should be declared
Health, safety and the environment: account should be taken of the health and safety aspects related to a products use during its entire life cycle. Construction works must be designed, built and demolished in such a way that the use of natural resources is sustainable and in particular ensure the re-use or recyclability of the construction works
Dangerous substances: the amended text stipulates that where applicable, the declaration of performance should be accompanied by information on the content of hazardous substances in the construction product in order to improve the possibilities for sustainable construction and to facilitate the development of environmentally-friendly products. Information on the content of hazardous substances should initially be limited to substances referred to in Articles 31 and 33 of Regulation EC1907/2006 (REACH). However, the specific needs for information on the content of hazardous substances in construction products should be further investigated with a view to completing the range of substances covered so as to ensure a high level of protection of the health and safety of workers
Simplified procedures: conditions should be defined for the use of simplified procedures for the assessment of performance of construction products, in order to decrease the cost of placing them on the market, without reducing the level of safety. In order to enhance the impact of market surveillance measures, all simplified procedures provided for in the Regulation should apply only to natural or legal persons which manufacture the products they place on the market
CE marking: the CE mark shall be followed by the two last digits of the year in which it was first affixed, the name and the registered address of the manufacturer, or the identifying mark allowing identification of the name and address of the manufacturer easily and without any ambiguity
Product Contact Points: should be able to carry out their functions in a manner that avoids conflicts of interest, particularly in respect of the procedures for obtaining the CE mark
Harmonised standards: where stakeholders are involved in the process of developing harmonised standards, the European standardisation bodies shall ensure that the various categories of stakeholders are in all instances represented in a fair and equitable manner
European Assessment Document: this shall contain, at least, a general description of the construction product, the list of essential characteristics relevant for the intended use of the product as foreseen by the manufacturer, and agreed with the organisation of technical assessment bodies (TABs), as well as the methods and criteria for assessing the performance of the product in relation to those essential characteristics
Requirements for TABs: the TABs shall make publicly available their organigram and the names of the Members of their internal decision-making bodies. The organisation of TABs shall at least carry out the following tasks:
(a) organise the coordination of the TABs and;
(b) ensure that examples of best practice are shared between TABs to promote greater efficiency and provide a better service to industry
Delegated acts: the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts outlining the conditions for the use of websites to make available the declaration of performance
Reporting: the report should also be based on Article 37 (use of simplified procedures by micro-enterprises).

Within three years following the entry into force of the Regulation, the Commission will assess the specific need for information on the content of hazardous substances in construction products and consider the possible extension of the information obligation to other substances. In its assessment, the Commission shall take into account the need to ensure a high level of protection of the health and safety of workers using construction products and of users of construction works, including with regard to recycling and/or re-use requirements of parts or materials.

If appropriate, the report shall, within two years, be followed up by appropriate supportive legislation proposals.

Entry into force

This Regulation will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU); however, Articles 3 to 28, 36 to 38, 56 to 63, 65 and 66 as well as Annexes I, II, III and V will not apply until 1 July 2013.

The Regulation will be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States of the EU.