The new EU Construction Products Regulations (CPR) are set to come into force on July 1, 2013, described by the BSI as “the most significant change for a decade in the way in which construction products are sold in Europe.”
Building on the Construction Products Directive, the CPR aims to break down technical barriers so that any products which are subject to a harmonised European standard (hEN) can be used across the European Union. This will be achieved through an established conformity assessment across product families, and the use of the CE mark on products.
However, it will not impact requirements from national building regulations.
At the FIA Conference at Edgbaston on 14th March, Christian Lais of Euralarm — the association of European manufacturers, installers, and service providers of the electronic Fire Safety and Security industry — discussed the new regulations, and how they will impact the fire industry.
He explained how the CPR would overrule local laws relating to the Construction Products Directive:
Due to the fact that it is European law it overrules automatically country-specific laws, meaning the member states which brought the CPD, the directive, into local law, they need to adapt their local law, otherwise automatically the CPR will overrule this.
Lais also explained that any products that have been tested under the directive and have a certificate of conformity will not need to be re-tested under the new regulations, as that certificate will still be valid.
Article 30 of the CPR explains that “the CE marking shall be the only marking which attests the conformity of the product.” However, it also explains that other quality marks may be used, saying “any other marking may be affixed to the product, provided that the visibility, legibility and meaning of the CE marking is not thereby impaired.”
Lais went on to explain that he believes that national quality marks, relating to standards such as EN54-7, for instance, would actually improve in their quality with the regulated use of the CE mark in place, and that it would not impact the use of national quality marks.
You can see all of Mr. Lais’s presentation from the FIA conference in the video above. It’s a long presentation, but full of important information for anyone who has anything to do with manufacturing a product covered by a harmonized European standard.
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