Engineers Ireland

Construction Products Regulation Are you ready for July 2013

The new Construction Products Regulation (CPR) comes into force in July 2013. It is very important that engineers and all product specifiers are aware of the new rules.

From July 2013, CE MARKING of construction products covered by harmonised European Standards is mandatory.

 Manufacturers, importers and distributors have new obligations and responsibilities when placing a construction product on the market.

 Designers, specifiers and builders must be aware and understand the new requirements on construction products.

For more on the new CPR, please download this document. 

 CPD Information note -July 2013

I.S. 398: Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol

The National Standards Authority of Ireland wishes to announce the launch of a period of public enquiry from the 27th of November 2012 until the 17th December 2012 on the following 2 Standards:

I.S. 398: Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol

The Scope of this Standard is to:

a) establish a comprehensive structured protocol for assessing and determining whether or not a building has been damaged by reactive pyrite or is likely to be in the future.
b) categorises buildings , in accordance with the risk categorised as defined in the standard

I.S. 398: Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 2: Methodology for remediation works

The Scope of this Standard is to: specify a methodology for remediation by the complete removal of subfloor hardcore affected by reactive pyrite

These two Standards were developed in response to Recommendations 1,2,3 and 4 made in the recent "Report of the Pyrite Panel" published by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, June 2012.
The Report of the Pyrite Panel (June 2012) commissioned by the Minister of the Environment, Community and Local Government, made a number of recommendations for the development of technical documents. The Report recognised the need for a standardised, accurate and reliable protocol to establish whether or not a building is or may be affected by reactive pyrite in the sub-floor hardcore material. It also emphasised the need for the protocol to be undertaken in a cost effective ,efficient and competent manner.

Full details on these draft Standards and the mechanism for submitting comments is available from the NSAI web site www.nsai.ie (Your Standards, Your Say).

Note: Please see below the links to both of these documents:

http://www.nsainep.ie/Home/Details/1440

http://www.nsainep.ie/Home/Details/1439

MANDATORY CE MARKING ON CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS

CPR INFORMATION NOTE (PDF 544KB)

1.    I write in connection with Regulation (EC) No. 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC[1] (known as the ‘Construction Products Regulation’) which is due to come into full effect across the European Union on 1 July 2013.

2.    As indicated in its title, the Construction Products Regulation will replace Council Directive 89/106/EEC on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (known as the Construction Products Directive) which is given effect in Ireland by the European Communities (Construction Products) Regulations 1992 (S.I. No. 198 of 1992) as amended by the European Communities (Construction Products) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. No. 210 of 1994).

3.    The Building Regulations Advisory Body has recently prepared an information paper setting out the general objectives behind the Construction Products Regulation, the requirements that must be fulfilled in order to place construction products onto the market and the particular implications for manufacturers, importers and distributors that will arise from the introduction of the Regulation’s provisions in mid 2013.  The information paper also provides some brief information for specifiers, designers and builders when using construction products for which harmonised European standards are in place. A copy of the information paper is attached to this letter for your information.

4.    In order to raise awareness of the Construction Products Regulation and its impacts across the construction sector, the Department is writing to a wide range of professional bodies and trade associations as well as to various State agencies and local authorities in order to ask that the information paper be disseminated as widely as possible among relevant stakeholders.  Accordingly, I would be grateful if the Engineers Ireland would consider circulating the attached information paper to your members as means of raising awareness of the CPR and its requirements.  A copy of the information paper may also be accessed on the Department’s website at www.environ.ie.

5.    Any enquiries in connection with the information paper may be addressed to Mr. Paris Beausang, Higher Executive Officer (Tel: 01 888 2321) or to Ms. Paula Doyle, Executive Officer (Tel: 01 888 2505), or alternatively by e-mail to buildingstandards@environ.ie.