Construction Fixings

By Barbara Sorgato, secretary general, European Consortium of Anchor Producers

The final text of the new Construction Product Regulation (CPR) is supposed to be published any time now. In the meantime, the European Commission has published an explanatory page on the most important changes of the EOTA route under the new CPR. 

Simply put, the procedure for requesting ETAs and adopting EADs is now more streamlined, enhancing coordination between EOTA and the European Commission – with a clearer relationship between harmonised standards and ETAs. I find it a very clear page and believe that the information given will be of great use to those using the EOTA route. Here I report its contents in a broad outline: 

How the current procedure works

1. A manufacturer requests a European Technical Assessment (ETA) for a construction product that is not covered by a harmonised standard. A manufacturer can ask for an ETA for additional characteristics not covered by a product’s harmonised standard. 

2. The request is made to a Technical Assessment Body (TAB) for the relevant product area; the list of TABs is given in the New Approach Notified and Designated Organisations (NANDO) database^[1].

3. The TAB issues the ETA based on a European Assessment Document (EAD) adopted by the European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA). 

4. The main content of the ETA is information on the intended use and performance of a product. The ETA has no expiring date.

5. The European Commission publishes an updated list of references for the final EADs in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). ETAs can be issued prior to the publication of the relevant EADs in the OJEU.

Key changes in the new CPR 

The first is that not only a single manufacturer, but also a group of manufacturers or an association (but each manufacturer receives an individual ETA upon request) or the Commission itself can request a European Technical Assessment (ETA) for a construction product that: 

• Is neither covered by a harmonised standard nor by a harmonised standard that is in the pipeline (to be delivered in a period shorter than one year).
• Has a declared use outside the intended use of the harmonised standard.
• Has a material that differs from those of the harmonised standard.
• Needs dedicated assessment methods because the ones given in the harmonised standard are unsuitable for the product.

ETAs also cannot be issued anymore for characteristics not covered by a product standard; they will need to be included in the next revision of the harmonised standard.

The next change is that the request is made to a TAB for the relevant product area. The chosen TAB will check all conditions given above and will inform the manufacturer if the ETA request can or cannot be processed.

The TAB then drafts an EAD, which is adopted by EOTA and submitted to the European Commission for greenlight and publication in the OJEU. An ETA can only be issued if the corresponding EAD has been cited in the OJEU.

Another key change is that the main content of the ETA is no longer just information on the intended use and performance of a product. New EADs must include all essential characteristics related to environmental sustainability (LCA = lifecycle assessment indicators according to EN 15804), with ETAs declaring these characteristics in the following stages:

• Global Warming Potential (GWP) upon EAD citation.
• The core list of LCA-EPD indicators by 2029 (four years after the date of application of the new CPR).
• The full list of LCA-EPD indicators by 2031 (six years after the date of application of the new CPR).

There are also specific validity and expiration periods for ETAs and EADs:

• EADs are valid for ten years.
• EOTA can request a ten year extension from the European Commission in the final year before expiration.
• ETAs can be used for five years after an EAD expires.
• EADs are withdrawn from the OJEU from the moment a harmonised standard covering the same product is published in the OJEU; the related EAD is withdrawn from the OJEU and the ETA cannot be used anymore as a basis for the CE Marking (but it can be used as technical documentation).

As well as harmonised standards, ETAs will benefit from new market instruments under the CPR, including CE Marking with data carriers; Declarations of Performance and Conformity (DoPC); general product information, instructions for use and safety information; as well as digital product passport (DPP), when implemented.

Transition to the new EOTA route

EADs cited under the outgoing CPR can be used for issuing ETAs until 2030 (five years after the date of application of the new CPR). The related ETAs can be used for CE Marking products until 2035 (ten years after the date of applications of the new CPR), provided the product and intended use are not covered by a harmonised standard. Once a new harmonised standard is applied, it becomes the only way to market a product and the EAD and related ETAs can no longer be used for CE Marking.

Below is the explanatory table given by the European Commission: The text of the European Commission website and the above table are available under this link: 

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/construction/construction-products-regulation-cpr/voluntary-ce-marking-eota-route_en 

References:

^[1] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/single-market-compliance-space/notified-bodies