The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is a piece of law laying down harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products in the EU. The main elements addressed by this regulation are the following:
- the preparation and use of harmonised technical specifications (hENs and EADs)
- processes related to assessment of construction products according to the harmonised technical specifications
- Declaration of Performance and CE marking
- obligations of economic operators (manufacturers, distributors, importers and authorised representatives)
- roles and tasks of other subjects (such as Notified Bodies, Technical Assessment Bodies and others)
- a framework for national market surveillance
(This list is, of course, not exhaustive – it rather gives the overall impression of the scope of the regulation.)
The purpose of the regulation is to establish united rules for construction products concerning placing products on the market around the whole EU. The CPR removes barriers to trade represented by separate testing and certification in every EU country.
If a construction product falls under CPR, it has to be tested only once according to a harmonised European standard or European Assessment Document. The results (declared performance) must then be recognised in every EU member state without any need for further assessment or re-testing.
Based on performances declared according to CPR, national authorities can set performance requirements for the use of the product in their countries. That means a CE-marked product can be marketed but its use can be limited depending on its performance.
Being an EU-regulation, the CPR is legaly binding in every EU country without any further legal transposition or implementation into the national law! It is just translated without any modification into the national languages.
All official language versions of CPR can be downloaded here.