Subject matter and objectives
1. This Regulation lays down harmonised rules for the placing and making available on the market of construction products, regardless of whether undertaken in the framework of a service or not, by establishing:
(a)
harmonised rules on how to express the environmental and safety performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics, including on life cycle assessment;
(b)
environmental, functional and safety product requirements for construction products.
2. This Regulation also establishes:
(a)
rights and obligations for economic operators dealing with construction products or their components; and
(b)
obligations for other actors providing services linked to the manufacturing and commercialisation of products covered by this Regulation.
3. This Regulation aims to contribute to the efficient functioning of the internal market by ensuring the free movement of safe and sustainable construction products in the Union. It also aims to contribute to the objectives of a green and digital transition by preventing and reducing the impact that construction products have on the environment and on the health and safety of persons.
Scope
1. This Regulation applies to construction products, including used products, and to the following items:
(a)
key parts of products; and
(b)
parts or materials intended to be used for products covered by this Regulation, if the manufacturer of those parts or materials so requests.
2. This Regulation does not apply to:
(a)
lifts subject to Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 21 ) , escalators or their components;
(b)
requirements or performance assessment subject to Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 22 ) and covered by the delegated acts of the Commission referred to in Article 11(8) of that Directive.
3. Member States may exempt from the application of this Regulation products falling within its scope that are placed on the market in the outermost regions of the Union within the meaning of Article 349 TFEU. Member States shall notify to the Commission and to the other Member States the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions providing such exemptions. They shall ensure that exempted products do not bear the CE marking referred to in Article 17. Products placed on the market on the basis of that exemption shall not be deemed to have been placed on the market in the Union within the meaning of this Regulation.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘construction product’ means any formed or formless physical item, including 3D-printed products, or a kit that is placed on the market, including by means of supply to the construction site, for incorporation in a permanent manner into construction works or parts thereof with the exception of items that need first to be integrated into a kit or another construction product prior to being incorporated in a permanent manner into construction works;
(2)
‘product’ means a construction product or other item falling within the scope of this Regulation as set out in Article 2;
(3)
‘permanent’ means intended to remain in the construction work, or in parts thereof, after the completion of the construction or renovation process;
(4)
‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge, regardless whether in the framework of providing a service or not;
(5)
‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product on the Union market, or the first making available on the Union market of a used product after a deinstallation of such a product;
(6)
‘performance’ means the degree to which a product has certain scalable essential characteristics;
(7)
‘essential characteristics’ means those characteristics of the product which relate to the basic requirements for construction works set out in Annex I, and those which are listed as predetermined environmental essential characteristics in Annex II;
(8)
‘product requirement’ means a characteristic, as set out in Annex III, which a product must have before it can be placed on the market;
(9)
‘economic operator’ means the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to this Regulation in relation to the manufacturing or remanufacturing of products, including products to be reused, or to making those products available on the market, in accordance with this Regulation;
(10)
‘manufacturer’ means a ‘manufacturer’ as defined in Article 3, point (8), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(11)
‘3D-dataset’ means a set of numerical data describing the shape of an object by its outer dimensions and its cavities;
(12)
‘construction works’ means buildings and civil engineering works whether over or in the ground or water, including but not limited to roads, bridges, tunnels, pylons and other facilities for transport of electricity, communication cables, pipelines, aqueducts, dams, airports, ports, waterways, and installations which are the bases for the rails of railways;
(13)
‘level’ means the result of the assessment of the performance of a product in relation to its essential characteristics, expressed as a numerical value;
(14)
‘class’ means a range of levels, delimited by a minimum and a maximum value, of performance of a product;
(15)
‘threshold level’ means a minimum or maximum performance level of a product with regard to a certain essential characteristic;
(16)
‘key part’ means a part which is used as a component or spare part for a product and which has been specified by a harmonised technical specification as essential for the characterisation, safety or performance of a product;
(17)
‘kit’ means a product placed on the market by a single economic operator as a set of at least two separate items, none of which needs to be a product itself, intended to be incorporated together into construction works;
(18)
‘European assessment document’ or ‘EAD’ means a document adopted by the organisation of technical assessment bodies for the purposes of issuing European technical assessments;
(19)
‘European technical assessment’ or ‘ETA’ means the documented assessment of the performance of a product, in relation to its essential characteristics, in accordance with the respective European assessment document;
(20)
‘used product’ means a product that is not waste or has ceased to be waste in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC, and which has been installed at least once into a construction work, and that:
(a)
has not undergone a process going beyond checking, cleaning or repairing recovery operations by which products or components of products are prepared so that they can be reused for construction purposes without any other pre-processing; or
(b)
has been subject to a transformative process going beyond checking, cleaning and repairing recovery operations which, according to the applicable harmonised technical specification, is qualified as non-essential to the product’s performance;
(21)
‘intended use’ means the purpose of a product as set out in the applicable harmonised technical specifications or European assessment documents;
(22)
‘declared use’ means the use intended by the manufacturer, including the conditions for usage, as set out in technical documentation, on labels, in general product information, in instructions for use, in safety information, or in publicity material;
(23)
‘repair’ means the process of fixing a faulty product or replacing its defective components, in order to return the product to a condition where it can fulfil its declared use;
(24)
‘maintenance’ means an action carried out to keep a product in a condition where it is able to function as specified;
(25)
‘remanufactured product’ means a product that is not waste, or has ceased to be waste in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC, which has been installed at least once into a construction work, and that has been subject to a transformative process going beyond checking, cleaning and repairing recovery operations which, according to the applicable harmonised technical specification, are qualified as essential to the product’s performance;
(26)
‘risk’ means ‘risk’ as defined in Article 3, point (18), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(27)
‘product type’ means the abstract model of individual products, determined by the intended use and a set of characteristics which exclude any variation with regard to performance or to the fulfilment of product requirements set out in or in accordance with this Regulation, whilst identical products of different manufacturers belong to different product types;
(28)
‘state of the art’ means a way of achieving a certain goal which is either the most effective and advanced or close to it, or a way which is currently possible by applying common technologies, whether or not it is the most technologically advanced solution;
(29)
‘recycling’ means ‘recycling’ as defined in Article 3, point (17), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
(30)
‘fulfilment service provider’ means a ‘fulfilment service provider’ as defined in Article 3, point (11), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(31)
‘product family’ means all product types belonging to one of the families listed in Annex VII;
(32)
‘product category’ means a subset of the product types of a certain product family encompassing those product types which have in common a certain intended use as specified in harmonised technical specifications or European assessment documents;
(33)
‘factory production control’ means the documented, continuous and internal production control in a manufacturing plant with regard to certain parameters or quality aspects, reflecting the specificities of a respective product family or product category and manufacturing processes, and which aims at the constancy of performance or at the continuous fulfilment of product requirements, executed in accordance with Annex IX;
(34)
‘importer’ means an ‘importer’ as defined in Article 3, point (9), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(35)
‘distributor’ means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the market, including by offering products for sale, hire or hire purchase, or displaying products to customers or installers in the course of a commercial activity, and including through distance selling, whether or not in return for payment;
(36)
‘authorised representative’ means any natural or legal person established in the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on that manufacturer’s behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under this Regulation;
(37)
‘individually manufactured’ means that, due to the specifications of the client, there is a need for readjustment of the production process for manufacture when compared with all other products produced for other clients by the economic operator in question;
(38)
‘micro-enterprise’ means a ‘micro-enterprise’ as defined in Article 2(3) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC ( 23 ) ;
(39)
‘custom-made’ means that, due to the specifications of the client, there is a variation in terms of size or material when compared with all other products produced for other clients by the economic operator in question;
(40)
‘permalink’ means an internet link to a website which is stable both for its content and the address (‘URL’);
(41)
‘data carrier’ means a linear bar code symbol, a two-dimensional symbol, or other automatic identification data capture medium that can be read by a device;
(42)
‘harmonised technical specifications’ means the performance harmonised standards which have been made mandatory for the purposes of the application of this Regulation in accordance with Article 5(8), the implementing acts referred to in Article 6(1) and the delegated acts referred to in Article 7(1), Article 9(3) and Article 10(2);
(43)
‘European standardisation organisation’ means a ‘European standardisation organisation’ as defined in Article 2, point (8) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;
(44)
‘non-series process’ means a process that is neither predominantly automated or predominantly carried out using assembly-line techniques, nor repeated very often in relation to the volume of production by the economic operator concerned or the economic operators belonging to the same group of companies, determined by a common controlling natural or legal person, or the same organisational structure;
(45)
‘withdrawal’ means ‘withdrawal’ as defined in Article 3, point (23), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(46)
‘recall’ means ‘recall’ as defined in Article 3, point (22), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(47)
‘online marketplace’ means a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which enables customers to conclude distance contracts with economic operators for the sale of products;
(48)
‘online interface’ means an ‘online interface’ as defined in Article 3, point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(49)
‘supplier’ means any natural or legal person providing raw materials, intermediate products, or used products to manufacturers or to other persons providing raw materials, intermediate products, or used products to manufacturers;
(50)
‘service provider’ means any natural or legal person providing a service to a manufacturer or to a supplier of a key part, provided that the service is relevant for the manufacturing of products, including to their design, or to their deinstallation in the case of used products;
(51)
‘accreditation’ means ‘accreditation’ as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;
(52)
‘market surveillance authority’ means a ‘market surveillance authority’ as defined in Article 3, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(53)
‘life cycle’ means the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product’s life, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources, or in the case of products which have previously been incorporated into construction works, from the latest deinstallation from the construction work, to final disposal;
(54)
‘single liaison point’ means the authority designated as the focal point for contacts with the Commission and other Member States on construction product related issues;
(55)
‘notified body’ means a conformity assessment body authorised to carry out third-party assessment and verification tasks under this Regulation that has been duly notified;
(56)
‘notifying authority’ means the single public administration body, designated in accordance with this Regulation, in charge of the notification and monitoring of notified bodies;
(57)
‘technical assessment body’ or ‘TAB’ means a body, designated in accordance with this Regulation, that issues European technical assessments on the basis of European assessment documents;
(58)
‘designating authority’ means the single public administration body, designated in accordance with this Regulation, in charge of the designation and monitoring of TABs in a Member State;
(59)
‘product presenting a risk’ means a product that, whenever during its entire life cycle, has an inherent potential to affect adversely the health and safety of persons, the environment or the fulfilment of basic requirements for construction works when incorporated in those works, to a degree which, taking account of the state-of-the-art, goes beyond what is considered reasonable and acceptable in relation to its intended use and under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use;
(60)
‘product presenting a serious risk’ means a ‘product presenting a serious risk’ as defined in Article 3, point (20), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
(61)
‘by-product’ means a ‘by-product’ within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2008/98/EC;
(62)
‘recyclability’ means the capability of a material or product to be effectively and efficiently separated, collected, sorted and aggregated in specific waste streams for the purpose of being recycled into secondary raw materials while minimising the loss of quality or functionality compared to the relevant primary raw material;
(63)
‘crisis-relevant goods’ means ‘crisis-relevant goods’ as defined in Article 3, point (6), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 24 ) ;
(64)
‘internal market emergency mode’ means ‘internal market emergency mode’ as defined in Article 3, point (3), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2747.
Working plan and preparatory phase for the development of harmonised technical specifications
1. The Commission shall be supported by an expert group (‘the Construction Products Regulation Acquis Expert Group’ or ‘CPR Acquis Expert Group’). The CPR Acquis Expert Group shall be composed at least of experts designated by the Member States, representatives of European standardisation organisations and of relevant European stakeholder organisations receiving Union financing under Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. The CPR Acquis Expert Group shall support the Commission in processing Member States’ requests for Union harmonisation through harmonised technical specifications. In particular, the CPR Acquis Expert Group shall assist the Commission in establishing and updating a working plan for the development of harmonised technical specifications, in preparing the technical content related to harmonised technical specifications, in deciding on the need to launch the procedures in relation to harmonised technical specifications that present deficiencies, are unavailable, or not able to cover immediate regulatory needs, and in determining the inclusion of used products in harmonised technical specifications.
2. After consulting the CPR Acquis Expert Group, the Commission shall establish a working plan for the development of harmonised technical specifications for product families listed in Annex VII, including product requirements as well as general product information, instructions for use and safety information, covering at least the following three-year period. The Commission shall set the priorities of the working plan using a transparent and balanced methodology, which shall be published together with the working plan. That methodology shall at least reflect the regulatory needs of the Member States, the safety issues related to construction works and products and the climate and circular economy goals of the Union.
The Commission shall publish the first working plan no later than 8 January 2026.
The Commission shall renew and update the working plan at least every three years. It shall publish the working plan for the following three-year period one year before the expiration of the working plan in force.
The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Member States annually about progress in implementing the working plan.
If the Commission considers that it cannot achieve the goals set out in the working plan, it shall amend it accordingly without undue delay, and shall inform the European Parliament and the Member States about the reasons thereof.
3. Following the working plan established under paragraph 2, Member States shall communicate to the Commission and the CPR Acquis Expert Group the essential characteristics they require for a product family or product category, and the assessment methods, threshold levels or classes of performance, as well as the product requirements, that they deem necessary.
When Member States communicate their regulatory needs to the Commission pursuant to the first subparagraph, the Commission shall integrate them or shall provide a statement of reasons why it is not possible to do so.
4. On the basis of the basic requirements for construction works set out in Annex I and taking into account the regulatory needs communicated by Member States in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, as well as the safety, environmental, circularity and climate objectives of the Union, the Commission, with the support of the CPR Acquis Expert Group, shall identify the technical aspects needed to prepare standardisation requests, including the relevant essential characteristics. Those essential characteristics and the list of predetermined environmental essential characteristics set out in Annex II shall constitute the basis for the preparation of the standardisation requests referred to in Article 5(2) and of the implementing acts referred to in Article 6(1).
5. The Commission shall ensure that essential characteristics are covered by harmonised technical specifications to the extent that the development of such specifications is technically and economically proportionate.
6. The Commission, with the support of the CPR Acquis Expert Group, shall identify the product requirements referred to in Article 7, as well as other harmonised technical specifications, and shall determine whether used products are to be covered by or excluded from a standardisation request or a harmonised technical specification. The CPR Acquis Expert Group shall, as a matter of urgency, be consulted on notifications from Member States made in accordance with Article 11(5).
7. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend:
(a)
the list of predetermined environmental essential characteristics set out in Annex II in order to adapt it to technical progress and new environmental risks and to comply with the priorities established pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article based on the regulatory needs of the Member States;
(b)
the product families listed in Annex VII, to adapt them to technical progress and to the regulatory needs of the Member States.
Harmonised standards laying down essential characteristics dealing with performance
1. The methods and the criteria for assessing the performance of a product in relation to its essential characteristics shall be laid down in harmonised standards made mandatory by means of the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 8 (‘performance harmonised standards’). Performance harmonised standards shall, where appropriate and without endangering the accuracy, reliability or stability of the results, provide methods for assessing the performance of the products in relation to their essential characteristics that are less onerous than testing.
2. The Commission shall, in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, request one or more European standardisation organisations to draft harmonised standards laying down essential characteristics and their assessment methods for one or more product families, or for one or more product categories within a family. The standardisation request shall set out the basic principles and reference points for the establishment of those essential characteristics and their assessment methods. The standardisation request shall explicitly state whether it covers or excludes used products from the scope of the request.
3. As part of the standardisation requests referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Commission may also request the European standardisation organisations to provide the technical details necessary for the implementation of the assessment and verification system that is to be applied in accordance with the delegated acts referred to in Article 10(2).
4. The standardisation requests referred to in paragraph 2 may include a request to propose one or more of the following elements:
(a)
voluntary or mandatory threshold levels in relation to the essential characteristics;
(b)
classes of performance in relation to the essential characteristics;
(c)
those essential characteristics which always have to be declared by manufacturers.
Such standardisation requests shall set out the basic principles and reference points for the establishment of the elements requested.
5. Where it has included with its standardisation request a request for a proposal in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation by determining, for the product families or product categories and for the elements covered by that request, the elements referred to in paragraph 4, first subparagraph of this Article.
After consulting the CPR Acquis Expert Group, the Commission may deviate from the proposals of the European standardisation organisation.
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts, irrespective of any prior standardisation request but on the advice of the CPR Acquis Expert Group, in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation by determining the elements set out in paragraph 4, first subparagraph of this Article in relation to any of the groupings of essential characteristics of a horizontal nature listed in Annex X.
6. In cases where, on the basis of the nature or technical characteristics of a product, it is apparent that testing would be unnecessary or redundant, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation by laying down conditions under which a product is to be deemed to satisfy a certain level, threshold level or to qualify for a class of performance without testing, or without further testing.
7. The Commission shall assess the compliance of harmonised standards with the relevant standardisation requests, with this Regulation and with other Union law, including general principles of law. The Commission may assess whether harmonised standards comply with other harmonised standards under this Regulation or with other harmonised standards the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union .
The Commission shall carry out the assessment referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph and present its reasons in writing to the relevant European standardisation organisation and to the CPR Acquis Expert Group within six months after the relevant harmonised standard has been transmitted to it. Where the Commission considers that a standard, or a part thereof, is unsatisfactory, it shall specify the deficiencies. In order for the Commission to fulfil that obligation within that timeframe, the European standardisation organisations shall regularly inform the Commission of the progress and content of the European standardisation deliverable in accordance with Article 10(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
8. Where a harmonised standard is in conformity with applicable legal requirements and satisfies the requirements to be met in relation to the basic principles and reference points set out in the standardisation request, as well as in relation to the essential characteristics to be covered in view of the basic requirements for construction works, the Commission shall without delay adopt an implementing act making that standard mandatory. One year after such adoption the performance harmonised standard shall become mandatory for the purposes of this Regulation unless a later application date has been specified in the implementing act. A later application date shall be specified only in exceptional cases and its use shall be duly justified. A performance harmonised standard may be voluntarily applied from the date of the adoption of the implementing act.
Where the Commission considers a harmonised standard or a part thereof to be unsatisfactory, it may adopt an implementing act making that harmonised standard mandatory with restrictions.
The implementing acts referred to in the first and second subparagraph shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 90(2).
Where it is not possible to make a harmonised standard mandatory with restrictions, the Commission may adopt an implementing act in accordance with Article 6.
9. When a Member State, the European Parliament or the Commission, the last with the support of the CPR Acquis Expert Group, considers that a performance harmonised standard does not entirely fulfil the applicable legal requirements or satisfy the demands to be met in relation to the essential characteristics to be covered in view of the basic requirements for construction works, the procedure for formal objections to harmonised standards as set out in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 shall apply.
10. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend Annex X by adding additional groupings of essential characteristics of a horizontal nature.
Other harmonised technical specifications laying down essential characteristics
1. While priority shall be given to the elaboration of standards, by way of derogation from Article 5(1) to (4) of this Regulation, in order to cover the regulatory needs of Member States and to pursue the goals of Article 114 TFEU, the Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down essential characteristics, their assessment methods and technical details pursuant to Article 5 of this Regulation for one or more product families or for one or more product categories within a family.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted only if the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a)
the Commission has requested, pursuant to Article 5(2), one or more European standardisation organisations to draft a harmonised standard and:
(i)
the request has not been accepted; or
(ii)
the harmonised standard addressing that request is not delivered within the deadline set in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 and no later than three years after the acceptance of the standardisation request; or
(iii)
the harmonised standard does not comply with the request; and
(b)
no implementing act, as referred to in Article 5(8), first subparagraph, making mandatory a harmonised standard covering the essential characteristics, their assessment methods and technical details pursuant to Article 5 was adopted in the last 5 years, or such an implementing act was adopted within the last five years, but with restrictions, as referred to in Article 5(8), second subparagraph.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 90(3).
2. Before preparing a draft implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 that it considers that the conditions in paragraph 1 of this Article are fulfilled.
3. When preparing the draft implementing act, the Commission shall take into account the views of relevant bodies and of the CPR Acquis Expert Group and shall duly consult all relevant stakeholder organisations receiving Union financing under Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
4. Where an implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article covers the same essential characteristics or assessment methods in relation to a specific product family or product category as a harmonised standard the reference of which has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union or in respect of which an implementing act referred to in Article 5(8) has been adopted, the Commission shall withdraw from the Official Journal of the European Union the reference of that harmonised standard or repeal that implementing act. Where the implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article only partially covers the harmonised standard, the Commission shall retain the implementing act laying down a harmonised standard that is subject to restrictions.
5. When a Member State or the European Parliament considers that an implementing act adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 does not entirely satisfy the requirements to be met in relation to the essential characteristics to be covered in view of the basic requirements for construction works, it shall inform the Commission thereof, by submitting a detailed explanation. The Commission shall assess that detailed explanation and may, if appropriate, amend the implementing act in question.
6. The Commission shall follow the procedure in Article 5 to request any revision or update of the essential characteristics or assessment methods in relation to the same product families or product categories as those covered by the implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Where the harmonised standard delivered by the European standardisation organisation is suitable to be adopted in accordance with Article 5(8), the Commission shall repeal the implementing act adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, or the parts thereof which cover the same essential characteristics or assessment methods in relation to the same product families or product categories as those covered by the harmonised standard.
Product requirements and harmonised standards conferring a presumption of conformity
1. Where a product family, or one or more product categories within a product family, is covered either by a performance harmonised standard or by an implementing act referred to in Article 6(1), the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation, by establishing product requirements in accordance with Annex III for that product family or product category, or for parts thereof.
2. Prior to their placing on the market, products covered by this Regulation shall satisfy the applicable product requirements.
3. The Commission may, in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, request one or more European standardisation organisations to draft harmonised standards conferring the presumption of conformity (‘voluntary harmonised standards’) for the product requirements established by delegated acts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
4. Where a voluntary harmonised standard requested in accordance with paragraph 3 is adopted by a European standardisation organisation and proposed to the Commission for the purpose of publishing its reference in the Official Journal of the European Union , the Commission shall assess the voluntary harmonised standard in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
5. Where a voluntary harmonised standard is in conformity with the applicable legal requirements and satisfies the requirements in relation to the product requirements set out in the standardisation request, the Commission shall without delay publish the reference of that standard in the Official Journal of the European Union .
6. Where the reference of a voluntary harmonised standard cannot be published in the Official Journal of the European Union , the Commission may publish such a reference with restrictions. Where a reference of a voluntary harmonised standard cannot be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and cannot be published as a reference with restrictions, the Commission shall bring the issue to the attention of the committee referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 and of the CPR Acquis Expert Group.
7. A product subject to product requirements which is in conformity with voluntary harmonised standards or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union , shall be presumed to be in conformity with the product requirements covered by those standards or parts thereof.
8. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend Annex III in order to adapt it to technical progress and to cover new risks and environmental aspects and to comply with the priorities established in Article 4, based on the regulatory needs of the Member States.
Common specifications conferring a presumption of conformity
1. The Commission may adopt implementing acts establishing common specifications that provide an alternative means to comply with the product requirements established in accordance with Article 7(1).
Those implementing acts shall be adopted only where the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a)
the Commission has requested, pursuant to Article 7(3), one or more European standardisation organisations to draft a voluntary harmonised standard for the product requirements and:
(i)
the request has not been accepted; or
(ii)
the voluntary harmonised standard addressing that request is not delivered within the deadline set in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012; or
(iii)
the voluntary harmonised standard does not comply with the request; and
(b)
no reference of voluntary harmonised standards covering the product requirements has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 and no such reference is expected to be published within a reasonable period.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 90(3).
2. Before preparing a draft implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 that it considers that the conditions in paragraph 1 of this Article have been fulfilled.
3. When preparing the draft implementing act referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall take into account the views of the relevant bodies and of the CPR Acquis Expert Group and shall duly consult all relevant stakeholder organisations receiving Union financing under Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
4. A product which is in conformity with the common specifications established by implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, or parts thereof, shall be presumed to be in conformity with the product requirements established by delegated acts referred to in Article 7(1) covered by those common specifications or parts thereof.
5. The Commission shall repeal the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, or parts thereof which cover the same product requirements as those covered by a voluntary harmonised standard the reference of which is published in the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with Article 7(5) or (6).
6. When a Member State or the European Parliament considers that a common specification does not entirely satisfy the product requirements established by delegated acts referred to in Article 7(1), it shall inform the Commission thereof, by submitting a detailed explanation. The Commission shall assess that detailed explanation and may, if appropriate, amend the implementing act establishing the common specification in question.
General product information, instructions for use and safety information
1. General product information, instructions for use and safety information shall be provided in relation to construction products covered by a harmonised technical specification or a European technical assessment. The content of the general product information, instructions for use and safety information is set out in Annex IV.
2. As part of the standardisation request referred to in Article 5(2), the Commission may also request the European standardisation organisation to issue guidelines, including technical details, necessary for drawing up general product information, instructions for use and safety information in accordance with Annex IV.
3. If the Commission considers that the guidelines issued by the European standardisation organisation pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article for a specific product family or product category do not ensure adequate and homogeneous implementation of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation by establishing rules on the provision of general product information, instructions for use and safety information for the respective product family or product category.
4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend Annex IV in order to adapt it to technical progress and new information needs.
Assessment and verification systems
1. The assessment and verification of a product’s performance in relation to its essential characteristics, as set out in harmonised technical specifications adopted in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 or in European assessment documents referred to in Article 31, or of the product’s conformity with product requirements adopted in accordance with Article 7, shall be carried out in accordance with one or more of the systems set out in Annex IX.
2. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation, by determining, for each product family or product category, the applicable assessment and verification system among those referred to in Annex IX. Those delegated acts may determine different assessment and verification systems within the same product family or product category, differentiating by essential characteristic or product requirement. The assessment and verification systems shall be determined before the harmonised technical specifications or European assessment documents become applicable.
3. The delegated acts adopted in accordance with paragraph 2 shall take into account the intended uses, the potential damage resulting from product deficiencies, the product’s sensitivity to performance variations under production conditions, the likelihood of errors during its manufacturing and the possibility of easily detecting manufacturing errors. Those delegated acts shall be tailored to the respective product families or product categories and shall minimise the burden on manufacturers, whilst ensuring a high level of protection of health and safety of persons and of the environment.
4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 in order to amend Annex IX to:
(a)
introduce additional assessment and verification systems when necessary to adapt to technical progress; or
(b)
amend the existing assessment and verification systems to counter systematic non-compliance by notified bodies or manufacturers and to harmonise the application of the requirements or obligations contained in them, without such amendments adding or removing any task defined in a system.
When adopting delegated acts under point (a), the Commission may not introduce additional systems that set more demanding obligations for economic operators than those provided for in System 1+. In addition, the Commission may introduce such additional systems only when it is evident that guidance on the application of existing systems has proved to be insufficient.
Harmonised zone and national measures
1. This Regulation, and the harmonised technical specifications adopted in accordance with it, together, establish a ‘harmonised zone’.
The harmonised zone covers all products subject to harmonised technical specifications.
Harmonised technical specifications shall be presumed to be comprehensive, in the following respects:
(a)
laying down all essential characteristics and their assessment methods;
(b)
specifying all product requirements other than those covered by other Union law; and
(c)
determining the applicable assessment and verification systems.
Harmonised technical specifications for new products shall apply to used products from third countries unless the harmonised technical specification explicitly provides rules for used products.
2. Member States shall respect the harmonised zone in their national laws, regulations and administrative measures, and shall neither prohibit nor impede the making available on the market of products covered by it when those products are in compliance with this Regulation. Member States shall not lay down essential characteristics and their assessment methods or product requirements other than those set out in the harmonised technical specifications.
The harmonised zone does not affect the right of Member States to specify national requirements for the use of products that are subject to harmonised technical specifications. Any assessment methods and systems for assessment and verification set out in such national requirements shall be in accordance with the applicable harmonised technical specifications.
Member States shall ensure that the making available on the market of products within the harmonised zone which are in compliance with this Regulation shall not be impeded by rules or conditions imposed by public bodies or by private bodies acting as a public undertaking or private bodies acting as a public body on the basis of a monopoly position or under a public mandate.
3. When complying with the obligations provided for in paragraph 2, Member States shall in particular apply the following rules:
(a)
no requirements for information or registration related to the placing on the market of the product other than those laid down in the harmonised zone shall be established;
(b)
no assessments of the product other than those set out in the harmonised zone shall be made mandatory;
(c)
no markings attesting to conformity with requirements or declared performances in relation to essential characteristics covered by the harmonised zone shall be required other than the CE marking, and any existing provisions in national measures requiring such markings shall be withdrawn;
(d)
national laws, regulations and administrative measures shall respect the threshold levels established in accordance with Article 5(5);
(e)
national laws, regulations and administrative measures shall not be based on classes, sub-classes or additional classes other than those established in accordance with Article 5;
(f)
national laws, regulations and administrative measures shall not require more assessments and verifications than those established in accordance with Article 10(1).
4. Member States shall register in the Single Digital Gateway established by Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 25 ) all their national laws, regulations and administrative measures related to construction products on their territory covered by the harmonised zone.
5. Where a Member State deems it necessary on imperative grounds of health and safety of persons or protection of the environment and in order to address immediate regulatory needs, to take measures applicable to products within the harmonised zone in relation to characteristics not laid down in harmonised technical specifications, it shall notify the Commission thereof, justifying the need for the measures taken and explaining the regulatory need it aims to address.
To that end, Member States shall use the procedure set up by Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 26 ) . When doing so, Member States shall make reference to this paragraph and specify which elements are part of the measure.
The Commission shall reply to the notification within the time limits established in the procedure set up by Directive (EU) 2015/1535. The Commission shall within six months of the notification either put forward a proposal for authorisation in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article or communicate its grounds for rejecting the national measure.
Upon receipt of a notification as referred to in the first subparagraph, the Commission shall, irrespective of whether it intends to authorise the measure, without delay submit the matter to the CPR Acquis Expert Group for consultations on whether updates to existing performance harmonised standards need to be requested as a priority.
6. The Commission shall adopt an implementing act, authorising the national measure notified under paragraph 5 where:
(a)
the notified measure appears duly justified in the light of imperative grounds of health and safety of persons or protection of the environment, including the climate;
(b)
the regulatory need is not covered by harmonised technical specifications or by other Union law;
(c)
the notified measure does not discriminate against economic operators of other Member States;
(d)
the notified measure is able to cover the respective regulatory need;
(e)
the notified measure does not constitute a serious obstacle to the functioning of the internal market; and
(f)
the notified measure is not expected to be covered by a harmonised standard which is to be delivered within one year from the date of the notification referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, following a standardisation request issued pursuant to Article 5(2), or, at the moment of that notification, no implementing act referred to in Article 6(1) has been presented to the committee referred to in Article 90(1).
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 90(3). They shall be withdrawn once the regulatory need is covered by harmonised technical specifications or by other Union law.
On duly justified imperative grounds of urgency relating to health and safety of persons or the protection of the environment, the Commission shall adopt immediately applicable implementing acts in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 90(4).
7. This Regulation does not affect the possibility for Member States to introduce mandatory deposit-refund systems or to oblige manufacturers to accept to regain, directly or via their importers and distributors, ownership of their new, surplus or unsold non-custom-made products that are in a state equivalent to that in which they were placed on the market, provided that the measure does not directly or indirectly discriminate against economic operators in other Member States.
8. This Regulation does not affect the possibility for Member States to ban the destruction of surplus or unsold products, or to make their destruction conditional upon their previously having been made available on a national brokering platform for non-commercial use of products.
Relationship with other Union law
1. To avoid double assessment of the same aspects of health and safety of persons or protection of the environment in respect of products, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to supplement this Regulation by laying down the conditions under which obligations relating to the assessment of a product’s performance or the fulfilment of certain product requirements, including the equivalence of assessment and verification systems required under this Regulation and obligations as regards general product information, instructions for use and safety information requirements, can be satisfied by the fulfilment of obligations provided for under other Union law.
The conditions referred to in the first subparagraph shall not allow for product safety levels which are less strict than those established in accordance with this Regulation.
2. Where conflicts arise between this Regulation and Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 as well as Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, the relevant provisions of this Regulation shall prevail.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
