Exceptions and Simplified Procedures

Exceptions and Simplified Procedures

• Exceptions in Accordance with Article 5
• Simplified Procedures
• Differing Procedures
• Specific Technical Documentation

Exceptions in Accordance with Article 5

Pursuant to Article 5, construction products may be exempted under certain circumstances from the obligation to draw up a declaration of performance. However, this is only possible if no provisions “requiring the declaration of essential characteristics” exist at Union level or at national level. Should requirements for the performance of construction products exist, these performances are to be declared, and the exemptions laid down in Article 5 cannot be applied. If such requirements do not exist, a declaration of performance and CE marking can be omitted in the following cases:

• individual construction products that are not manufactured as part of a series production but in response to a specific order for a particular construction work,
• construction products which are manufactured directly on the construction site by building contractors themselves, and
• traditional construction products which are produced in a non-industrial process for the renovation of a listed building (“in a manner appropriate for the conservation of cultural heritage”).

Simplified Procedures

The simplified procedures per Articles 36–38 may, however, be used for construction products that do require a declaration of performance and CE marking. This includes on the one hand the possibility of type testing (formerly “initial type testing”) of the construction product through an “appropriate technical documentation” in one of the following ways:

• Proof of performance without testing or calculation (according to the terms of the relevant harmonised technical specification or in the case of a Commission Decision);
• Use of test results from other manufacturers (shared testing), wherein the authorisation of the concerned manufacturer is required;
• Use of test results of system or component suppliers (cascaded testing), again with the authorisation of the respective manufacturer or system supplier.

Differing Procedures

Furthermore, there is an option for micro-enterprises to replace the test procedures laid down in the harmonised standard by “differing methods” during type testing, provided that the equivalence of the applied methods is established by means of a “specific technical documentation”. However, this is only possible for products for which systems 3 or 4 are supposed to be used for the assessment and verification of the constancy of performance, wherein system 3 is replaced by system 4 (thus no involvement of a Notified Body).

Specific Technical Documentation

Finally, there is also the possibility of replacing the “system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance” with a “specific technical documentation” where individually manufactured products are concerned. In this specific technical documentation, the conformity of the product “with the applicable requirements” as well as the equivalence of the procedures used to those laid down in the harmonised standard must be demonstrated.