This led to the need for 30 very detailed mandates from the European Commission and EFTA Secretariat to CEN, in many cases each mandate being as detailed as some other directives. A consequence of this latter point is that the harmonized European Standards in question have a different role and status not only to that of standards supporting other directives but also to that of existing national standards and, in some cases, do not fulfil the expectations of industry. The one thing that can be said, in general, is that a CE marked product in conformity with a harmonized European Standard will have had certain characteristics tested and the results declared with CE marking. It will probably take two and a half years from the start of a mandate to obtaining an agreed work programme responding to the mandates from all the relevant technical committees, but considering the complexity of most mandates, this is not excessive. To understand the standardization process and why it appears to have taken such a long time, one has to understand the construction industry itself and the constraints that apply to it, the specific nature of the directive, the status of harmonized standards, and, quite simply, the size of the task.
Consultants have to assess all draft standards both during enquiry and prior to final vote.
Much of the consultants' time is spent in helping to draft the Annex Z s, which are essential under the directive to give standards the status of harmonized European Standards. When the first consultant was employed seven years ago, many aspects of the directive, including mandates, had yet to be developed. But especially over the last few years progress has been significant and accelerating. As guidance has become more definitive and technical committee members and secretaries have been able to adapt to it, so the quality of many draft harmonized construction product standards submitted to the CEN Management Centre has also improved considerably. This is made up of representatives from the CEN Management Centre, the European Commission, EFTA, the Consultants and representatives from some CEN National Members.