Construction Products Regulation in Northern Ireland

The EU Construction Products Regulation (EU CPR) lays down harmonised rules (‘standards’) for the marketing of construction products. Standards are developed by European standardisation bodies, and define the methods and the criteria for assessing the performance of the product in relation to its “essential characteristics”. Standards become harmonised when the reference to the standard is published in the Official Journal of the European Union - see a list of harmonised standards under the EU CPR.

Where a harmonised European standard (or ‘hEN’) exists for a product, the EU CPR places obligations on manufacturers, distributors and importers (known collectively as ‘economic operators’) of that product when it is placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA). The product must have a declaration of performance and have been affixed with the ‘CE’ marking.

In order to safeguard the reliability of the declaration of performance, the EU CPR provides for systems of “Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance” (AVCP). Where third-party assessment of the performance of construction products is required, this assessment may only be undertaken by authorised ‘notified bodies’. Notified bodies are accredited, and Member States then formally ‘notify’ the European Commission and other European Union countries. Those notified bodies are listed on the EU’s database (the ‘New Approach Notified and Designated Organisations’ database - known as ‘NANDO’).

Where the standard requires third-party assessment, that notified body’s 4-digit identification number must be affixed to the product.

The EU CPR also allows manufacturers to affix the CE marking to products that are not fully covered by a harmonised European standard. This is permitted where manufacturers receive a technical assessment of their product based on a ‘European Assessment Document’ (EAD). EADs are devised by the group of ‘technical assessment bodies’ (TABs).

Further information on the approach for products that are not fully covered by a harmonised standard can be found at the European Organisation for Technical Assessment.