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Construction products: Environmental and health aspects become the decisive factor

Starting Position

According to the new "Construction Products Regulation" environmental and health aspects of construction products become the decisive factor. Comprehensive requirements related to the environmental impact of any construction product will be developed in due time and become part of the European standards.

Consequences

Excessive environmental and health requirements will at least result in complete disappearance of products, if requirements cannot be fulfilled (e.g. by reason of too severe requirements), new tests (approx. 150.000 € only for the initial type test in one production plant!), new certificates and new bureaucratic burden.

Only one way out

There is only one way out: If the industry is able to present enough scientific data the product will be classified by the European Commission into the category "without testing" (WT) or "without further testing" (WFT). Having once been classified in this way the use of the product becomes easy. The producer is no longer forced to carry out individual tests as long as his product belongs to the classified range. A WT or WFT classification will demonstrate to the customer that he is using an ecofriendly material.

How to act?

Substantial investigations for mortar products have already been made in several European countries. These existing data have to be collected and to be completed by new investigations if need be. A comprehensive research report ("Technical Dossier") should be the result.

Step by step

1. EMO has to charge an independent institute to collect all available data and to create a comprehensive "Technical Dossier" which than will be submitted to the European Commission.

2. The project should be managed by help of a European expert who will coordinate the activities between all parties involved: industry, EU-Commission, Institute, CEN.

Is there any alternative?

Any other alternative will lead to an enormous higher financial burden of every single company (the bigger the company, the higher the costs!) and increases the risk of a total replacement of products as a result of excessive European requirements.

This project is expected to be ready for approval in final 2013.