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New CE marking regulation for construction products

The new Construction Products Regulation, which came into force this month, requires products to be accompanied by a declaration of performance, as well as a CE marking. Source: bdonline

Until now this has been voluntary in the UK.

The declaration, which replaces the Construction Products Directive, will provide details on the performance of a product, as well as safety guides, instructions, handling and storage information.

The aim is to provide consistent performance information across Europe in order to allow specifiers, including architects, to quickly compare a material’s performance.

CE marks will also need a declaration of performance.

Duncan King of the Construction Products Association said the changes had been part of an evolution in standards dating back to 1989.

“Many products had CE marking but it wasn’t compulsory up until now,” he said.

“For manufacturers already marking it, [the new regulations] won’t make a huge difference, but for the manufacturers which haven’t been using CE marking, it’s more of a revolution.”

However, the new regulation doesn’t provide recommendations on the suitability of a product for a particular job — the responsibility for ensuring the correct product is used still rests with the architect.

Peter Caplehorn, chair of the RIBA Regulation & Standards Group, voiced his concern about architects being an “easy target” if materials didn’t meet the standards years after the products had been specified.

“The issue we face is that the regulations are yet to be bottomed out. Not a lot has been reviewed on the detailed outcomes architects face. We need to make sure that if an architect has acted in good practice there shouldn’t be any comeback. The RIBA are quite concerned that we act collectively so we have a clean understanding legally and that we can advise members accordingly,” he said.