EN    EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2016) XXX  draft  
  
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
on the conditions for classification, without testing, of glued laminated timber products 
covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid 
timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 15497 with regard to their 
react ion to fire and amending Decision 2005/610/EC  
(Text with EEA relevance)   EN 2   EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM  
1. CONTEXT  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT  
Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 
2011 laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and 
repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC1 contains an empowerment of the Commission to 
adopt delegated acts to establish classes of  performance in relation to the essential 
characteristics of construction products. The Regulation also provides that the manufacturers 
of construction products should not be subjected to unnecessary administrative burdens or 
costs. Notably, as foreseen in  Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the Commission 
should choose the least onerous system for assessment and verification of constancy of 
performance, which still could serve appropriately the needs of health, safety and 
environment.  
When the perfo rmance of certain construction products has already been sufficiently 
demonstrated by stable test results or other existing data, their manufacturers should be 
permitted, under conditions to be specified, to declare a certain class of performance without 
testing or further testing these products as foreseen in Article 27(5) and Article 36(1)(a) of 
Regulation (EU) No 305/2011. This simplified procedure further reduces administrative 
burdens and costs for manufacturers.  
During the consultation of experts nomi nated by Member States, based on extensive evidence 
on testing results by industry, it has been demonstrated that g lued laminated timber products  
covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid timber 
products covered by har monised standard EN 15497 have proven to have a stable and 
predictable performance concerning reaction to fire, when they meet certain conditions. For 
this reason, the reaction to fire performance of these products can be deemed, without the 
need for any f urther testing, to achieve certain classes of performance where those conditions 
are fulfilled.  
This draft Regulation sets out the conditions under which these simplified procedures for 
determining the performance in relation to reaction to fire of glued l aminated timber products  
covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid timber 
products covered by harmonised standard EN 15497 can be applied.  
Commission Decision 2005/610/EC2 already established classes of the reaction to  fire 
performance for glued laminated timber products covered by EN 14080. Table 1 of the Annex 
to that Decision presented the necessary conditions for classification without need for further 
testing for these products. In that table, their minimum overall  thickness was determined to 40 
mm. However, the proven stable and predictable performance concerning their reaction to fire 
justifies the adjustment of the said thickness condition by lowering it to 22 mm. For the sake 
of legal certainty, Table 1 of the A nnex to Decision 2005/610/EC should thus be deleted and 
the Annex to this Regulation should be applied instead.  
2. CONSULTATIONS  PRIOR  TO THE  ADOPTION  OF THE  ACT  
The draft Regulation was discussed firstly in the fire -related subgroup of experts (FireSubAG)  
on 12 March 2015 and then in the meeting of the Advisory Group for Construction (the AG) 
on 8 May 2015. It was also submitted for a written consultation of experts between 6 March 
                                                 
1 OJ L 88, 4.4.2011, p. 5.  
2 OJ L 208, 11.8.2005, p. 21.  EN 3   EN and 8 May 2015. Before these steps, all Member States were presented an opp ortunity to 
nominate experts to participate in them. In addition to these experts, also other external 
stakeholders were consulted. The documents discussed in the FireSubAG and the AG, 
relevant to the written consultation, were transmitted simultaneously t o the European 
Parliament and to the Council, as foreseen in the Common Understanding on delegated acts. 
The observations presented in these contexts have been taken into account when preparing the 
final draft version of this act for the inter -service cons ultation.  
3. LEGAL  ELEMENTS  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT  
Pursuant to Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, classes of performance may be 
established in relation to the essential characteristics of construction products. According to 
Article 27(1), this can be  done by delegated acts of the Commission, whereas Article 27(2) 
allows for the use of harmonised standards for this purpose.  
Moreover, in accordance with Article 27(5), the Commission may establish conditions under 
which a construction product shall be de emed to achieve a certain class of performance 
without testing or without further testing, in order to avoid the unnecessary testing of 
construction products for which performance has already been sufficiently demonstrated by 
stable test results or other e xisting data.  
These conditions are then to be fulfilled when a manufacturer wishes to replace type -testing 
of his product by these levels or classes of performance, as set out in Article 36(1)(a) of 
Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.  
The European classification system established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 
2016/3643, regarding the reaction to fire of construction products, in particular Table 1 of its 
Annex, is applicable to glued laminated timber products  covered by the harmonised standard 
EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid timber products covered by the harmonised 
standard EN 15497.  
According to the expert group consultations carried out, the reaction to fire performance of 
glued laminated timber products  covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and structural 
finger jointed solid timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 15497, within the 
classification provided for in Regulation (EU) 2016/364, is well established. For this reason, 
the reac tion to fire performance of these products can be deemed, without the need for any 
further testing, to achieve a certain class of performance, as defined in the European 
classification system mentioned above.  
The draft Regulation conforms to the principle of proportionality, since adopting a delegated 
act is the most efficient way to achieve the desired outcome, the alleviation of administrative 
burdens, while continuing to guarantee legal certainty. It results in alleviating administrative 
obligations for market actors otherwise to be complied with under Regulation (EU) 305/2011, 
concerning the testing of products under its scope.  
                                                 
3 OJ L 68, 15.3.2016, p. 4 . EN 4   EN COMMISSION DELEGATED REG ULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
on the conditions for classification, without testing, of glued laminated timber products 
covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid 
timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 15497 with regard to their 
reaction to fire and amending Decision 2005/610/EC  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , 
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 9 March 2011 laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of 
construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC1, and in particular Article 
27(5) thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) A system for class ifying  the performan ce of construction products  with regard to their 
reaction to fire  was adopted in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/3642. 
Glued laminated timber products and structural finger jointed solid  timber products are 
among the construction products to whic h that Delegated Regulation  applies.  
(2) Commission Decision 2005/610/EC3 established classes of the reaction to fire 
performance for glued laminated timber products covered by the harmonised standard 
EN 14080 in Table 1 of the Annex to th at Decision. However,  further testing of these 
products has justified the adjustment of the conditions set out in th at Decision for these 
products.  
(3) Tests have shown glued laminated timber products  covered by the harmonised 
standard EN 14080 and structural finger jointed solid  timber products covered by the 
harmonised standard EN 15497 to have a stable and predictable performance 
concerning reaction to fire provided that they meet certain conditions regarding the 
minimum mean density of the wood and the minimum mean thickness of  the product.  
(4) Glued laminated timber products  covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and 
structural finger jointed solid  timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 
15497 should therefore be deemed to satisfy a certain class of performance f or reaction 
to fire established in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/364  on those conditions without 
further testing being  required.  
                                                 
1 OJ L 88, 4.4.2011, p. 5.  
2 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/364  of 1 July 2015 on  the classification of the reaction to 
fire performance of construction products pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council ( OJ L 68, 15.3.2016 , p. 4 ).  
3 Commission Decision 200 5/610/EC of 9 August  2005 establishi ng the class es of reaction -to-fire 
performance of certain construction products (OJ L 208, 11.8.2005, p. 21).  EN 5   EN (5) For the sake of legal certainty , Table 1 of the Annex to Decision 2005/610/EC should 
be deleted and the Annex to this Regulation should be applied instead for glued 
laminated timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080,  
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Glued laminated timber products  covered by the harmonised standard EN 14080 and 
structural finger jointed solid timber products covered by the harmonised standard EN 15497 
which  fulfil the conditions set out in the Annex shall be deemed to satisfy the classes of 
performance indicated in the Annex without testing.  
Article  2 
Table 1 of the Annex to Decision 2005/610/EC is deleted.  
Article  3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth  day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission  
 The President  
 Jean -Claude Juncker