Construction Products, a new European Regulation is coming into force

A new European Regulation has been definitively approved (pending publication in the Official Journal) that sets harmonized rules for the marketing of construction products and repeals the previous Regulation 305/2011.

The regulations for environmental sustainability labelling are now in place, although their full scope will have to be awaited until the delegated acts that will regulate it are issued. It’s certain, however, that this label will be part of the information included in the digital passport for construction products.

The regulation aims to contribute to the goals of a green and digital transition by preventing and reducing the impact of construction products on the environment and human health and safety.

The document establishes harmonised standards on how to express the performance of construction products in environmental and safety terms in relation to their essential characteristics, including life cycle assessment and environmental, functional and safety requirements for construction products.

“Construction product”, according to Article 3, means any formed or formless physical item, including products manufactured by 3D printing, or a kit placed on the market, also by supply to the construction site, produced for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works or parts thereof, with the exception of items that are necessarily first integrated into an assembly, kit or other construction product prior to being incorporated in a permanent manner in construction works.

The new definition of “used product” is also of great interest: a product that is not waste or has ceased to be waste in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, and which has been installed at least once into a construction work, and that:

• has not undergone a process going beyond checking, cleaning or repairing recovery operations, by which the product or components of products are prepared so that they can be used for construction purposes without any other pre-processing; or

• has been subject to a transformative process going beyond checking, cleaning and repairing recovery operations which according to the applicable harmonized technical specification, is qualified as not essential to the product ‘s performance.

“Recyclability”, another new definition, means the ability of a material or product to be effectively and efficiently separated, collected, sorted and aggregated into specific waste streams for the purpose of being recycled to obtain secondary raw materials, minimizing the loss of quality or functionality compared to the primary raw material in question.

Article 11, paragraph 4, for the purpose of greater harmonization, requires Member States to register all their national laws, regulations, and administrative measures related to construction products in their territory in the Single Digital Gateway established by EU Regulation 2018/1724.

Pursuant to Article 15, a declaration of performance and conformity (DoP and DoC) must be prepared for each product. The declaration of performance and conformity describes the performance of the products in relation to their essential characteristics, in accordance with the relevant harmonized technical specifications or a European assessment document.

The declaration of performance and conformity includes the environmental sustainability performance of the product throughout its life cycle in relation to the predetermined essential environmental characteristics listed in Annex II for the declared characteristics. The performance includes the packaging used or that will most likely be used and is calculated using the latest version of the software made available free of charge on the Commission’s website.

The CE marking is the only marking that certifies the product’s performance in relation to the essential characteristics assessed in accordance with the regulation.

Article 19 regulates cases where markings other than the CE marking, including private markings, may be affixed; these may be applied to a product only if they do not indicate that the assessment of the product’s performance in relation to the essential characteristics covered by the applicable harmonized technical specifications was conducted in a manner different from that established by the regulation. Furthermore, they must not compromise the visibility, legibility, or meaning of the CE marking.

Type I officially recognized eco-labels (EN ISO 14024) may be affixed to a product if they meet the requirements.

Article 22 then provides for environmental sustainability labelling, stipulating that the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in order to supplement the regulation by laying down specific requirements for environmental sustainability labelling for particular product families and product categories.

Article 75 establishes a digital product passport system for construction products.

The digital product passport relating to a product governed by the regulation:

1. a) includes the following information:

• the declaration of performance and conformity;
• general product information, instructions for use and safety information;
• the technical documentation;
• the label in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 9;
• unique identifiers;
• the documentation required under other applicable Union legislation;
• the data carriers of the essential parts for which a digital product passport is available;

1. b) is linked to one or more data carriers;
2. c) is electronically accessible via the displayed data carrier;
3. d) corresponds to the product type and its unique identification code as referred to in Article 22, subparagraph 5;
4. e) is freely accessible to all economic operators, customers, users and authorities via the data carrier;
5. f) offers different levels of access to the digital product passport system;
6. g) allows the entities specified in the digital product passport system to enter or update the information contained in the digital product passport;
7. h) is accessible for a specified period after the placing on the market of the last product corresponding to its product type.”

Article 82 then provides for incentives by Member States for construction products.

Public procurements account for 14% of the EU gross domestic product (GDP). In order to promote the use of sustainable construction products, which contribute to the objectives of achieving climate neutrality, improving energy and resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy that protects public health and biodiversity, Article 83 specifically provides for green public procurement, i.e. when tenders require minimum environmental sustainability performance for construction products with regard to their essential characteristics as defined by specific harmonized technical specifications, contracting authorities and contracting entities apply the mandatory minimum environmental sustainability requirements.

When establishing the mandatory minimum environmental sustainability requirements, the Commission carries out an impact assessment and takes account of at least the following criteria:

• the value and volume of public procurements awarded for the product family or product category concerned;
• the environmental benefits deriving from the dissemination of products belonging to the two highest performance classes;
• the need to ensure sufficient demand for more environmentally sustainable products;
• the economic feasibility for contracting authorities or contracting entities to purchase more environmentally sustainable products, without incurring disproportionate costs, and the availability of such products on the market;
• the situation of the market, at Union level, of the relevant product family or product category;
• the effects of the requirements on competition;
• the impact on SMEs and their needs;
• the regulatory requirements and the different climatic conditions of the Member States.

Annex 1 provides that construction works and any of their parts must be designed, built, used, maintained, and dismantled or demolished in such a way that, throughout their entire life cycle, the use of natural resources is sustainable and ensures the minimization of the total amount of raw materials used; the minimization of the total amount of embedded energy; the minimization of waste produced; the minimization of the overall use of drinking water and greywater; the maximization of the reuse or recyclability of the construction works, partially or entirely, and their materials after dismantling or demolition, and the facilitation of dismantling.