Commission proposes further cuts in red tape for construction products

To improve the internal market for construction products, the European Commission has today proposed to replace the “Construction Product Directive” (89/106/EEC) by a new Regulation aiming to remove all remaining regulatory and technical obstacles to the free circulation of construction products in the European Economic Area. With 15% of EU manufacturing added value, but only 5% of intra-community trade, the construction sector is less open than other sectors of manufactured goods. “Construction products” include more than 40 ranges of products such as doors, thermal insulating products, cement, roofing products or bricks. The proposal aims at introducing a “common technical language” for expressing the performance of all these products, thus simplifying and clarifying the present situation. A clarification of procedures leading to CE marking is introduced as well, to reduce costs for manufacturers, whilst ensuring that the declaration of performance accompanying the product is accurate and reliable. Specific measures are also introduced to make life easier for micro-enterprises.

Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise and Industry policy said: “With this proposal we are continuing the drive to modernise EU legislation and cut unnecessary red-tape and over-regulation. My aim is to make life easier for industry and in particular for small enterprises. These changers will mean that construction products can be placed on the market at reduced costs and innovators can take advantage of simpler and more efficient procedures."

Today’s proposal will facilitate free movement of goods by creating a common technical language for manufacturers to express the performances/characteristics of the products they place on the European market. This common technical language, mainly harmonised standards and European Technical Assessments replace the corresponding national technical specifications and increase market transparency to the benefit of users, such as designers, builders, contractors and other actors. In particular architects will find it easier to obtain reliable information about the performances of the products they intend to use, facilitating their responsibility to ensure the safety of the construction works as required by respective national rules. Public administrations of Member States will also be able to make it easier for them to carry out their various tasks related to construction.

The aim is to ensure reliable and accurate information on the performance of construction products, by increasing the credibility of standards, but also by introducing new and stricter criteria for notified bodies and by strengthening market surveillance.

The proposal contains precise rules for determining the obligations of all economic operators. Notably the situations when a manufacturer shall make a declaration of performance have been clearly defined. This will offer manufacturers a choice of declaring the performance of their products beyond the minimum requirements in place.

The use and the specific meaning of CE marking for construction products will be determined clearly. This marking attests that the information accompanying the product has been obtained in accordance with the proposed Regulation and therefore must be considered accurate and reliable.

In some specific situations, the procedures leading to CE marking will be simplified in order to significantly reduce the costs incurred to manufacturers. In particular, this goes for micro-enterprises (less than 10 staff) and for individual products, when significant safety concerns are not implied. For the same purpose, also the use of stable previous test results or other existing data on the products will be allowed, instead of demanding the repeated testing of such products. For innovative products, simplified and streamlined procedures will be introduced as well.

The standardisation processes under the proposed Regulation could also contribute to the new developments towards sustainable industrial policy by providing harmonised tools for its implementation, for example in the areas of energy efficiency or sustainable construction. Today’s proposal should thus be seen as complementary to other EU actions to enhance sustainable development.

Background

The construction sector as a whole represents more than 10% of the GDP within the EU. Being the biggest industrial employer in Europe, it involves more than 15 million employees and 2,7 million enterprises. Within this, construction products account for more than 5 million employees and contribute more than 3% of EU GDP.
More information

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/construction/cpdrevision/cpd_revision_intro_en.htm