What is the impact of the EU Regulation No 305/2011 for construction products?

The Construction Products Regulation (305/2011/EU - CPR) which repeals the Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC – CPD), was adopted on 9 March 2011. It intends to bring about:

- Clarification of the basic concepts and of the use of CE marking for construction products;
- Simplification of the procedures, so as to reduce the costs incurred by enterprises, in particular SMEs;
- Increased credibility for the whole system. 

Unlike a Directive, a Regulation applies directly in local law. One of the main impacts of the new Regulation will be to make CE marking mandatory at the point of marketing for construction product manufacturers in 4 Member States – UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland. This will bring these Member States into line with the rest of the EU, where CE marking is already required.

The CPR introduces new terms such as Declaration of Performance (replacing the declaration of conformity), certificate of constancy of performance (replacing the certificate of conformity),…