Declaration of performance and conformity
1. Where a product is covered by a harmonised technical specification adopted in accordance with Articles 5 or 6, the manufacturer shall undergo the applicable assessment and verification system set out in Annex IX and draw up a declaration of performance and conformity before such a product is placed on the market. Where a product is covered by a harmonised technical specification adopted in accordance with Article 7, the manufacturer shall also verify the product’s compliance with applicable product requirements that have been specified by delegated acts. The manufacturer of a product which is not covered by any harmonised technical specification may issue a declaration of performance and conformity in accordance with the relevant European assessment document and European technical assessment.
2. By drawing up the declaration of performance and conformity, the manufacturer assumes responsibility for the conformity of the product with its declared performance and any applicable product requirements, and becomes liable in accordance with Union and national laws on contractual and extra-contractual liability. In the absence of objective indications to the contrary, Member States shall presume the declaration of performance and conformity drawn up by the manufacturer to be accurate and reliable.
In the event of non-compliance, or in the absence of a declaration of performance and conformity when such a declaration is required, the product may not be made available on the market.
Exemptions from drawing up a declaration of performance and conformity
By way of derogation from Article 13(1), a manufacturer may decide not to undergo the applicable assessment and verification of the product’s compliance with applicable product requirements and not to draw up a declaration of performance and conformity when any of the following applies:
(a)
the product is individually manufactured or custom-made and fulfils all of the following conditions:
(i)
it is manufactured using a non-series process;
(ii)
it is produced in response to a specific order;
(iii)
it is installed in a single identified construction work by a manufacturer who is also responsible for the safe incorporation of the product into the construction work; and
(iv)
it is in compliance with the applicable national rules, and under the supervision of those responsible for the safe execution of the construction works designated under the applicable national rules;
(b)
the product is manufactured in a manner exclusively appropriate to heritage conservation and in a non-series process for adequately renovating construction works officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of their special architectural or historic merit, in compliance with the applicable national rules.
Content of the declaration of performance and conformity
1. The declaration of performance and conformity shall be drawn up using the model set out in Annex V. The declaration of performance and conformity shall express the performance of products in relation to the essential characteristics of those products in accordance with the relevant harmonised technical specifications or European assessment document.
Where product requirements specified in accordance with Article 7 are applicable, the declaration of performance and conformity shall state that the fulfilment of those requirements has been demonstrated.
2. The declaration of performance and conformity shall include the product’s environmental sustainability performance over its life cycle in respect of the predetermined environmental essential characteristics listed in Annex II for those characteristics that are declared. The performance shall include the packaging used or most likely to be used and shall be calculated using the latest version of software made available free of charge on the website of the Commission.
Updates of the software referred to in the first subparagraph shall become mandatory for the purposes of this Regulation one year after their publication. Such software updates may be voluntarily applied from their date of publication.
3. The declaration of performance and conformity shall cover at least a product’s performance over its life cycle with regard to the following essential characteristics:
(a)
essential characteristics listed in points (a) to (d) of Annex II, from 8 January 2026;
(b)
essential characteristics listed in points (e) to (m), of Annex II, from 9 January 2030;
(c)
essential characteristics listed in points (n) to (s), of Annex II, from 9 January 2032.
The declaration of performance and conformity shall also cover those essential characteristics which always have to be declared, as determined in delegated acts adopted in accordance with Article 5(5).
4. No marking other than the CE marking may be placed on the declaration of performance and conformity.
5. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to amend the model set out in Annex V to adapt it to reflect technical progress as regards new information needs, to facilitate the fulfilment of digital product passport requirements set out in Articles 76 and 77, and to ensure interoperability and correct integration with the construction digital product passport system in accordance with Article 75.
6. The information referred to in Article 31 or, as the case may be, in Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 27 ) shall be provided together with the declaration of performance and conformity.
Supply of the declaration of performance and conformity
1. The manufacturer shall supply by electronic means a copy of the declaration of performance and conformity of each product which is made available on the market, unless the declaration is included in a digital product passport that fulfils the conditions set out in Article 76 and is available through the construction digital product passport system established in accordance with Article 75.
However, where a batch of the same product is supplied to a single user, it may be accompanied by a single copy of the declaration of performance and conformity.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, a manufacturer may make the declaration of performance and conformity referred to in Article 13(1) available on a website, provided that the manufacturer complies with all of the following conditions:
(a)
ensures that the content of the declaration of performance and conformity is made available in an unamendable electronic format on the website;
(b)
provides the declaration of performance and conformity in a human- and machine-readable format and offers the possibility to download a copy in a commonly readable format;
(c)
ensures that the website where the declaration of performance and conformity has been made available is monitored and maintained so that the website and the declarations of performance and conformity are continuously available to recipients of the construction product;
(d)
ensures that the recipients of construction products are able to access the declaration of performance and conformity free of charge;
(e)
provides instructions to the recipients of construction products on how to access the website and the declarations of performance and conformity drawn up for such products available on that website;
(f)
provides a link between the product and the declaration of performance and conformity related to it through the unique identification code of the product type; manufacturers may use a data carrier, including a permalink, to provide the link, provided that point (a) is complied with.
3. As part of the standardisation request referred to in Article 5(2), the Commission may also request the European standardisation organisation to issue guidelines to ensure interoperability of the human- and machine readable formats referred to in paragraph 2, point (b) of this Article.
4. The manufacturer shall supply or make available in a digital product passport in accordance with paragraph 1, or on a website in accordance with paragraph 2, the declaration of performance and conformity in the language or languages required by each of the Member States in which the manufacturer intends to make the product available. Another economic operator who makes that manufacturer’s product available in any additional Member State shall make a translation or translations of the declaration of performance and conformity available in the languages required by the additional Member State, together with the respective original version.
General principles and use of CE marking
1. The CE marking shall be subject to the general principles set out in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
2. The CE marking shall be affixed only to those products for which the manufacturer has drawn up a declaration of performance and conformity in accordance with Articles 13 and 15. The CE marking shall be affixed to key parts.
3. By affixing the CE marking to the product, or having it affixed, the economic operator indicates that it has assumed responsibility for the conformity of the product with the declared performance and applicable product requirements laid down in accordance with this Regulation. By affixing the CE marking, the economic operator becomes liable for the declared performance and the fulfilment of those requirements in accordance with national law on contractual and extra-contractual liability.
4. The CE marking shall be the only marking attesting to the performance of the product with regard to assessed essential characteristics in accordance with this Regulation, as well as to the conformity of the product with this Regulation.
Rules and conditions for the affixing of CE marking
1. The CE marking shall be affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly to the product. Where this is not possible or not warranted on account of the nature of the product, the CE marking shall be affixed to a label attached to the product or to the packaging or, where that is also not possible, to the accompanying documents.
2. The CE marking shall be followed by:
(a)
the last two digits of the year in which the CE marking was first affixed; or, in the case of used products, the last two digits of the year when the product was deinstalled followed by the last two digits of the year in which the CE marking was affixed to the used product;
(b)
the name and the registered address, or the identifying mark allowing easy and unambiguous identification of the name and address, of the manufacturer;
(c)
the name and the registered address of the authorised representative, or the identifying mark allowing easy and unambiguous identification of the name and address of the authorised representative where the manufacturer does not have a place of business in the Union or where the manufacturer chooses to have an authorised representative;
(d)
the unique identification code of the product-type;
(e)
the declaration code of the declaration of performance and conformity;
(f)
the identification number of the notified body or bodies verifying the product type and assessing the factory production control, if applicable; and
(g)
a data carrier connected to the digital product passport referred to in Article 76 if such a digital product passport is available through the construction digital product passport system established pursuant to Article 75.
The information listed in points (d) and (e) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph may be replaced by a data carrier, including permalink connected to the declaration of performance and conformity pursuant to Article 16(2), point (e), if the declaration of performance and conformity is available on a website. The information listed in points (d) and (e) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph may be omitted if a data carrier referred to in point (g) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph is provided.
3. The CE marking shall be affixed before the product is placed on the market. It may be followed by a pictogram or any other mark indicating a special risk or use.
Other markings and performance claims
1. Markings other than the CE marking, including private ones, may be affixed to a product only if they do not indicate that the product’s performance in relation to essential characteristics covered by applicable harmonised technical specifications had to be assessed in a way different from that laid down by this Regulation.
Officially recognised EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabels may be affixed to a product if they fulfil the requirement in the first subparagraph.
2. Markings allowed in accordance with paragraph 1 and other markings set out by Union legislation may be affixed to a product provided that they do not impair the visibility, legibility and meaning of the CE marking.
3. Where a product is covered by a harmonised technical specification, a claim made by an economic operator about the product’s performance, which concerns an essential characteristic covered by that harmonised technical specification, shall comply with the assessment method for that particular essential characteristic as laid down in the harmonised technical specifications.
4. Where a product is covered by harmonised technical specifications, claims about its performance in relation to the essential characteristics laid down in those harmonised technical specifications may be additionally provided in a place other than in the declaration of performance and conformity only if they are already provided in the declaration of performance and conformity.
The first subparagraph shall not apply to situations where, in accordance with Article 14, no declaration of performance and conformity has been drawn up.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
