1999/91/EC: Commission Decision of 25 January 1999 on the procedure for attesting the conformity of construction products pursuant to Article 20(2) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC as regards thermal insulating products (notified under document number C(1999) 115) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 1999-01-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community certification, EU trade mark, building materials, producer's liability, product safety, production control, quality label, resistance of materials, technical specification, thermal insulation

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 25 January 1999

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

(notified under document number C(1999) 115)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(1999/91/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

or family of products, since Annex III gives preference to
certain systems;

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 under 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 procedure referred to in point (a) of Article
13(3) corresponds to the systems set out in the first poss-
ibility, 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.

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

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

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.

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The procedure for attesting conformity as set out in Annex III shall be indicated in
mandates for guidelines for European technical approvals.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 25 January 1999.

For the Commission
Martin BANGEMANN

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX I

Thermal insulating products (factory-made products and products intended to be formed in-situ):

For any use, excluding those subject to reaction to fire regulations for products made of materials falling into
classes A (1), B (1), C (1).

ANNEX II

Thermal insulating products (factory-made products and products intended to be formed in-situ):

For uses subject to reaction to fire regulations for products made of materials falling into classes A (1), B (1),
C (1).

(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).

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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

THERMAL INSULATING 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(s)

Intended use(s)

Level(s) or class(es)

Attestation of
conformity
system(s)

Thermal
(factory-made
products
formed in-situ)

insulating products
and
products
be
to

intended

any

—

3

System 3: See Directive 89/106/EEC, Annex III(2)(ii), Second 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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PRODUCT FAMILY

THERMAL INSULATING 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(s)

Intended use(s)

Level(s) or classe(es)
(reaction to fire)

Attestation of
conformity
system(s)

Thermal
(factory-made
products
formed in-situ)

insulating products
and
products
be
to

intended

for uses subject to regulations
on reaction to fire

A (1), B (1), C (1)

A (2), B (2), C (2)

A (3), D, E, F

1

3

4

System 1: See Directive 89/106/EEC, Annex III(2)(i), without audit-testing of samples.
System 3: See Directive 89/106/EEC, Annex III(2)(ii), Second possibility.
System 4: See Directive 89/106/EEC, 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.