The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) will come into force on 1st July 2013, replacing the existing Construction Products Directive (CPD).
From this date CE marking of construction products that are covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN) or European Technical Assessment (ETA), and for which a claim of performance is made, will become mandatory.
The UK exercised its right to opt out from the existing Construction Products Directive (CPD), but cannot opt out from the CPR.
The introduction of the CPR will therefore have significant implications for any person or company manufacturing, importing or supplying construction products, including designers, purchasers, importers, inspection staff, quality managers and project managers. It will also impact on specifiers and users of products, such as architects, contractors and sub-contractors.
To help industry managers understand the changes and responsibilities of the new regulation, Conformance Limited is running a comprehensive training session on the requirements of the new CPR. The day-long course is on the 16th May 2013 in Buxton, Derbyshire, and will provide attendees with the information they need to ensure their products meet the new regulation.
Although CPR includes CE marking requirements, it follows a different process to the other CE-marking directives. The key differences are as follows:
Instead of a Declaration of Conformity, CPR requires a Declaration of Performance. Manufacturers have some freedom in the performance they choose to declare.
The standards are very prescriptive in setting out type testing and production control aspects. Standards are an essential part of the CPR process; they are NOT simply documents that can optionally be used to support claims of compliance with a set of directive’s essential requirements.
There is much more Notified Body involvement. This may be in the initial testing, production control, or both, depending on the product type.
Although CPR is harmonised across Europe, building regulations are set nationally, and vary in the different member states. Whilst a CPR performance claim may be valid, the performance achieved may be acceptable in some countries, but not in others.
Conformance Limited is one of the UK’s leading independent CE marking consultancies, providing expert advice to manufacturers for nearly 20 years.
