2003/655/EC: Commission Decision of 12 September 2003 on the procedure for attesting the conformity of construction products pursuant to Article 20(2) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC as regards watertight covering kits for wetroom floors and walls (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 3246)
Date: 2003-09-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: building materials, floor coverings, quality control of industrial products, quality label, technical standard

L 231/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.9.2003

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 12 September 2003

on the procedure for attesting the conformity of construction products pursuant to Article 20(2)
of Council Directive 89/106/EEC as regards watertight covering kits for wetroom floors and walls

(notified under document number C(2003) 3246)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2003/655/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 last amended by Directive 93/68/
EEC (2), and in particular Article 13(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

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. 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 responsibility 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 certifica-
tion body is required.

(2)

Article 13(4) requires that
the procedure thus deter-
mined shall be indicated in the mandates and in the
technical specifications. It is therefore desirable to iden-
tify the products or family of products referred to in the
technical specifications.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 12.
(2) OJ L 220, 30.8.1993, p. 1.

(3)

(4)

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

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.
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 contin-
uous surveillance, of point (ii) of section 2 of Annex III.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accor-
dance 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, in addi-
tion 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.

17.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 231/13

The procedure for attesting conformity as set out in Annex II shall be indicated in the mandates for Guide-
lines for European technical approvals.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 3

Done at Brussels, 12 September 2003.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission

ANNEX I

Watertight covering kits for wetroom floors and walls

— For use in building works (excluding swimming pools and industrial processes).

L 231/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.9.2003

ANNEX II

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.

Watertight covering kits for wetroom floors and walls (1/2)

Systems of attestation of conformity

For the product(s) and intended use(s) listed below, EOTA is requested to specify the following system(s) of attestation of
conformity in the relevant guideline for European technical approvals:

Product(s)

Intended use(s)

Level(s) or class(es)

Attestation of
conformity system(s)

Watertight covering kits for wetroom floors
and walls

For building works

—

2+

System 2 +: see Directive 89/106/EEC Annex III.2.(ii), first possibility including certification of 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 the factory production control.

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, clause 1.2.3 of the Interpretative Docu-
ments). 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.

Systems of attestation of conformity

Watertight covering kits for wetroom floors and walls (2/2)

For the product(s) and intended use(s) listed below, EOTA is requested to specify the following system(s) of attestation of
conformity in the relevant guideline for European technical approvals:

Product(s)

Intended use(s)

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

Watertight
wetroom floors and walls

covering

kits

for

For uses subject to regula-
tions on reaction to fire

A1 (*), A2 (*), B (*), C (*)

A1 (**), A2 (**), B (**), C (**), D, E

(A1 to E) (***), F

Attestation of
conformity
system(s)

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.

(*)

Products/materials for which a clearly identifiable stage in the production process results in an improvement of the reaction to fire
classification (e.g. an addition of fire retardants or a limiting of organic material).

(**) Products/materials not covered by footnote (*).
(***) Products/materials that do not require to be tested for reaction to fire (e.g. products/materials of classes A1 according to Commis-

sion Decision 96/603/EC, as amended).

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, clause 1.2.3 of the Interpretative Docu-
ments). 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.