98/601/EC: Commission Decision of 13 October 1998 on the procedure for attesting the conformity of construction products pursuant to Article 20(2) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC as regards road construction products (notified under document number C(1998) 2925) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 1998-10-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European standard, building materials, producer's liability, product safety, production control, quality label, resistance of materials, road building, technical specification

24. 10. 98

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 287/41

COMMISSION DECISION

of 13 October 1998

on the procedure for attesting the conformity of construction products pursuant
to Article 20(2) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC as regards road construction
products

(notified under document number C(1998) 2925)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(98/601/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21
December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations
and administrative provisions of
the Member States
relating to construction products (1), as amended by
Directive 93/68/EEC (2), and in particular Article 13(4)
thereof,

Whereas the Commission is required to select, as between
the two procedures pursuant to Article 13(3) of Directive
89/106/EEC for attesting the conformity of a product, the
‘least onerous possible procedure consistent with safety';
whereas this means that it is necessary to decide whether,
for a given product or family of products, the existence of
a factory production control system under the respons-
ibility of the manufacturer is a necessary and sufficient
condition for an attestation of conformity, or whether, for
reasons related to compliance with the criteria mentioned
in Article 13(4), the intervention of an approved certi-
fication body is required;

Whereas Article 13(4) requires that the procedure thus
determined must be indicated in the mandates and in the
technical specifications; whereas, therefore, it is desirable
to define the concept of products or family of products as
used in the mandates and in the technical specifications;

Whereas the two procedures provided for in Article 13(3)
are described in detail
in Annex III to Directive 89/
106/EEC; whereas it
is necessary therefore to specify
clearly the methods by which the two procedures must be
implemented, by reference to Annex III, for each product
or family of products, since Annex III gives preference to
certain systems;

Whereas the procedure referred to in point (a) of Article
13(3) corresponds to the systems set out
in the first
possibility, without continuous
surveillance, and the
second and third possibilities of point (ii) of Section 2 of
Annex III, and the procedure referred to in point (b) of
Article 13(3) corresponds to the systems set out in point
(i) of Section 2 of Annex III, and in the first possibility,

with continuous surveillance, of point (ii) of Section 2 of
Annex III;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on Construction,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The products and families of products set out in Annex I
shall have their conformity attested by a procedure
whereby the manufacturer has under its sole respons-
ibility a factory production control system ensuring that
the product is in conformity with the relevant technical
specifications.

Article 2

The products set out
in Annex II shall have their
conformity attested by a procedure whereby, in addition
to a factory production control system operated by the
manufacturer, an approved certification body is involved
in assessment and surveillance of the production control
or of the product itself.

Article 3

The procedure for attesting conformity as set out
in
Annex III shall be indicated in mandates for harmonised
standards.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 13 October 1998.

For the Commission
Martin BANGEMANN

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 40, 11. 2. 1989, p. 12.
(2) OJ L 220, 30. 8. 1993, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

24. 10. 98

ANNEX I

Ancillary products (e.g. dowels, joint fillers, joint sealants)

For uses in concrete roads

ANNEX II

Bitumen (e.g. pure bitumen, polymer modified bitumen, fluxed bitumen, fluxed polymer
modified bitumen, cut-back bitumen, bitumen emulsion,
fluxed bitumen emulsion,
polymer modified bitumen emulsion, fluxed polymer modified bitumen emulsion, naturally
occurring asphalt/bitumen)

For uses in road construction and surface treatment of roads

Bituminous mixtures (e.g. asphalt concrete including very soft asphalt and those for very
thin layers, porous asphalt, mastic asphalt (Gussasphalt), stone mastic asphalt, hot rolled
asphalt)

For uses in road construction and surface treatment of roads

Surface treatments (e.g. slurry for surfacing, microsurfacing, surface dressing)

For uses in surface treatment of roads

Bridge deck waterproofing products and kits (e.g. mastic asphalt, prefabricated membranes,
preformed bituminous sheets, resins/polyurethane)

For uses in bridge decks

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 287/43

ANNEX III

Note: For products having more than one of the intended uses specified in the following families, the tasks
for the approved body, derived from the relevant systems of attestation of conformity, are cumulative.

PRODUCT FAMILY

ROAD CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS (1/2)

1. Systems of attestation of conformity

For the product(s) and intended use(s) listed below, CEN/Cenelec are requested to specify the following
system(s) of attestation of conformity in the relevant harmonised standard(s):

Product

Intended use

Level/s
or
class/es

Attestation
of conformity
system

Bitumen

For road construction and surface
treatment of roads

Bituminous mixtures

For road construction and surface
treatment of roads

Surface treatments

For surface treatment of roads

Bridge
products and kits

deck

waterproofing

For bridge decks

Ancillary products

For concrete roads

—

—

—

—

—

2+

2+

2+

2+

4

System 2+: See CPD Annex III(2)(ii), first possibility, including certification of the factory production control by an
approved body on the basis of initial inspection of factory and of factory production control as well as of
continuous surveillance assessment and approval of factory production control.

System 4: See CPD Annex III(2)(ii), third possibility.

The specification for the system should be such that it can be implemented even where performance does
not need to be determined for a certain characteristic, because at least one Member State has no legal
requirement at all for such characteristic (see Article 2(1) of Directive 89/106/EEC and, where applicable,
point 1.2.3 of the interpretative documents). In those cases the verification of such a characteristic must not
be imposed on the manufacturer if he does not wish to declare the performance of the product in that
respect.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

24. 10. 98

PRODUCT FAMILY

ROAD CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS (2/2)

1. Systems of attestation of conformity

For the product(s) and intended use(s) listed below, CEN/Cenelec are requested to specify the following
system(s) of attestation of conformity in the relevant harmonised standard(s):

Product

Intended use

Level/s
or
class/es
(reaction to fire)

Attestation
of conformity
system(s)

Bituminous mixtures

Surface treatments

For uses subject to reaction to
fire regulations

Afl (1), Bfl (1), Cfl (1)

Afl (2), Bfl (2), Cfl (2)

Afl (3), Dfl, Efl, Ffl

1

3

4

System 1: See CPD Annex III(2)(i), without audit-testing of samples.
System 3: See CPD Annex III(2)(ii), second possibility.
System 4: See CPD Annex III(2)(ii), third possibility.
(1) Materials for which the reaction to fire performance is susceptible to change during production (in general, those subject
to chemical modification, e.g. fire retardants, or where changes of composition may lead to changes in reaction to fire
performance).

(2) Materials for which the reaction to fire performance is not susceptible to change during the production process.
(3) Materials of class A that according to the Decision 96/603/EC do not require to be tested for reaction to fire.

The specification for the system should be such that it can be implemented even where performance does
not need to be determined for a certain characteristic, because at least one Member State has no legal
requirement at all for such characteristic (see Article 2(1) of Directive 89/106/EEC and, where applicable,
point 1.2.3 of the interpretative documents). In those cases the verification of such a characteristic must not
be imposed on the manufacturer if he does not wish to declare the performance of the product in that
respect.