Construction Products Regulation

Scope of the CPR

The Construction Product Regulation (CPR) is intended to ensure the free circulation of construction product in the EU removing trade barriers eventually created by technical specification. This is achieved by providing a “common technical language", offering uniform assessment methods for the performance of construction products throughout the European Economic Area.

These assessment methods are compiled in harmonised technical specifications. This common technical language is to be applied by all stakeholders in the construction industry (regulatory authorities, manufacturers, distributors, end users ...)

• The regulatory authorities of Member States when specifying requirements for construction works and by
• the manufacturers when declaring the performance of their products, and by
• the distributors when making the products available to their customers and by
• their users (architects, engineers, constructors, etc.) when choosing the products that are best suited for their intended use in construction works.

Cables concerned by the regulation are those intended to be used for the supply of electricity and communications permanently installed in buildings and other civil engineering works.

Note that at this point the harmonised standard for fire resistant cables is still under development. This means that they are not yet subject to the CPR requirements and that their entire fire behaviour (fire reaction and fire resistance) is still to be assessed against the current national standards.

Construction products regulation classification

The Euroclass Table defines seven classes (Aca, B1ca, B2ca, Cca, Dca, Eca and Fca) based on their fire reaction, such as heat release and flame spread/propagation.

In this classification, heat release and flame spread/propagation are the main classification criteria, but a series of additional criteria is also defined. Those additional criteria apply only to classes B1ca, B2ca, Cca and Dca and they regard:

The smoke classes s1a and s1b reflect requirements that have been in use for a long time in Europe. The acidity classes do also have a background in long traditions.

What are the purpose & benefits of CPR?

Purpose of CPR:

• To define harmonized rules for the marketing of construction products within the EU.
• To provide a common technical language to assess the performance of construction products.
• To ensure the availability of reliable information to allow comparison of construction products from different manufacturers in different countries.

Benefits of CPR for stakeholders:

• free circulation of construction products in the EU’s Single Market - products have to be tested only once according to a harmonized European standard or European Assessment Document
• National authorities can set performance requirements using the harmonized European standard or European Assessment Document
• users of construction products can better define their performance demands
• market surveillance can rely on one common information structure.

Benefits of the technical tools of the CPR:

• the Declaration of Performance delivers information on the performance of a product
• the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance is a system defining how products are assessed and how the constancy of the assessment results is controlled
• clearer roles for Notified Bodies and Technical Assessment Bodies

Obligations of Economic Operators

All stakeholders along the value chain are concerned by this new regulation and have therefore legal obligations

All stakeholders along the value chain are concerned by this new regulation and have therefore legal obligations – that can vary depending on their situation and their role in the flow.
All economic operators in the supply chain have their responsibilities in order not to deteriorate
the performances of products. Obligations of manufacturer are listed in Article 11 of the CPR.
Obligations of Importers and Distributors in Articles 13 and 14.
Incumbent operators are considered as Authorities as per article 8 (5) of the CPR.

1) OBLIGATIONS OF MANUFACTURERS

• Implement the appropriate system of Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP)
• Draw up a Declaration of Performance and affix a CE mark
• When placing a construction product on the market, ensure that the product is accompanied by instructions and safety information in a language determined by the Member State concerned which can be easily understood by users
• Keep the technical documentation and the declaration of performance for a period of 10 years after the construction product has been last placed on the market.
• Inform the competent national authorities of the Member States in case a product presents a risk
• Provide information to national authorities where requested.

2) OBLIGATIONS OF DISTRIBUTORS

• Act with due care in relation to applicable requirements
• Control the conformity of the product with the formal requirements (identification product, CE marking, required documents...)
• Make sure corrective measures are taken by manufacturer or importer when they suspect a non-compliance
• Be able to identify their suppliers and their customers for a period of 10 years after they have sold the product
• Provide information to national authorities where requested.

3) OBLIGATIONS OF DISTRIBUTORS ACTING AS MANUFACTURERS

Distributors are considered as a manufacturer when they place a product on the market under their name or trademark or modify a construction product already placed on the market in such a way that conformity with the declaration of performance may be affected.

• Good knowledge about the intended use and the Euroclasses
• Responsibility for all necessary tests and documents
• Responsibility for CE marking and Declaration of Performance
• Keep the technical documentation and the Declaration of Performance for a period of 10 years after the construction product has been last placed on the market.

NOTE: any economic actor importing a product from outside the European Economic Area bears the same responsibilities as a manufacturer. In this respect, they shall place on the market only construction products which are compliant with the applicable requirements of the CPR and shall check that the manufacturer fulfills these requirements.

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