Construction Products Regulation, CPR

The European Construction Products Regulation sets the framework for how information about construction products sold on the internal market shall be assessed by the manufacturer and communicated to the user.

The purpose of the Construction Products Regulation is to harmonise the conditions for the marketing of construction products within EU's internal market. Very brief summary of the basics of the CPR:

• A declaration of performance must be drawn up for the product, and which information it should contain is stated in article 6 of the regulation.
• Mandatory CE marking of construction products covered by a harmonised standard or conforms to an issued European Technical assessment (ETA)
• It is not possible to CE mark a construction product directly on the basis of the regulation. Declaration of performance and CE marking are based on harmonised standard or conforms to an issued ETA.
• National requirements for buildings and other civil engineering works determine whether a construction product is suitable for the intended use. The Member States' building regulations are not harmonised by the Construction Products Regulation.
• The CE mark demonstrates i.e. that the performance of the construction product has been assessed in accordance with a harmonised standard or an issued ETA and that the manufacturer has drawn up a declaration of performance with data from this assessment.
• Chemical information in accordance with the REACH regulation shall be provided together with the declaration of performance.
• It shall be possible to trace the technical documentation to the product at all stages—from manufacturer to end user.
• There are some simplified procedures for CE marking, especially for micro-enterprises.
• National contact points for construction products provide information on applicable national building regulations in all Member States, see link in the related information.

The European Commission website provides information on the legislation, including an easy-to-read brochure translated into 23 languages. Please see the link in related information.