Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – As part of its effort to boost sector competitiveness, the EU has issued new regulations regarding construction product safety and sustainability.
The latest Construction Products Regulation becomes operational today, revising 2011 rules in order to administer construction products being marketed much more freely around the single market, promoting innovative building techniques, and driving the industry to be more sustainable and competitive.
These are some of the major steps taken toward digitalising the construction sector. All the information concerning the construction products declaration of performance and conformity, safety information, and instructions for use-will now be released digitally from a digital product passport. This also makes it easy to estimate the carbon footprint of the building.
This is changing the face of the construction sector with the latest Construction Products Regulation. The builders, architects, engineers, consumers, and public authorities gain direction on the right decisions according to the performance and sustainability features of the construction products.
How will new regulations improve construction product safety?
It will bring progress in competitiveness and productivity within the construction domain. It would provide the European Union with options for innovative and sustainable techniques in such prefabricated or modular components as façade systems. This points to off-site construction technologies will lead to more significant adoption regarding saving cost and revving the supply of much-needed housing via new builds and refurbishments. Waste created in the construction of such units can reach 10-15% reductions via these technologies. At the end of the useful life, prefabricated units can be de-assembled and re-assembled for the latest applications with higher whole lifecycle sustainability benefits.
The European Union is an important institution that facilitates safety and sustainable construction products using its regulatory policy, particularly that of the CPR. The latter is formally known as Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, mainly enacted to coordinate the rules across the EU’s internal market and enable the free movement of products, which all need to present minimum performance values concerning safety and health, the environment, in general.
