ELKABEL IS READY FOR CPR
What is the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)?
The Construction Products Regulation CPR, is the European legislation that establishes the basic requirements and essential harmonized characteristics that all products designed to be permanently installed in construction works must satisfy within the EU application scope. Due to its legal nature, all social agents affected must directly comply with it: administration, manufacturers, dealers, users, etc. All the existing regulations and legislation in the European Union must be adapted before its entry into force to the harmonized technical specifications. Manufacturers and dealers are obliged to manufacture and market the products in agreement with the standards indicated in the CPR. Furthermore, manufacturers must make a “Declaration of Performance” (DoP), ratifying that the product meets the performance set by the CPR for a certain Euroclass. Products must be identified with marks and tags that show their classification. Finally, these properties and compliance with them must be validated by an independent body, the so-called Notified Bodies and Laboratories.
Will the CPR be applied equally in Europe?
The spirit the CPR has been created with criteria in the whole of Europe and therefore it should be applied equally in any country. Each Member State has the criterion just to decide on which of the Euroclasses will be applied to a specific product in that country. The measurement and assessment criteria will therefore be equal in each country but different Euroclasses may be established for the same product in different countries.
What is the objective of the CPR?
There are different legislations for cables at European and national levels that result in different safety levels. The CPR regulation introduces new classification criteria and common classes, the so-called Euroclasses, for the entire European space, creating a common language and a classification, assessment and certification system for all member countries, for construction products. With regards to fire behaviour, it permits establishing common standards to carry out assessment comparisons in equivalent conditions, guaranteeing the veracity of the information the products subject to this regulation.
Why are cables affected by the CPR?
The CPR Regulation defines as construction product all those products designed to be permanently incorporated into construction works, in the broadest sense, not only considering building but also civil engineering works. Cables have been considered as construction products, and they are the only electrical products classified as construction products.Therefore, power, telecommunications, data and control cables are included. Cables designed for connecting appliances or for internal wiring of equipment or electrical appliances, and all those cables that are not used as cables for construction are excluded.
What is the declaration of performance “DoP”?
The manufacturer must prepare a Declaration of Performance (DoP). The declaration of performance is a legal document that must be placed at the disposal of the public, in which the manufacturer identifies the product and its programmed use, indicating the performance of the cable respect to its essential characteristics, which are currently, safety in case of fire (fire reaction according to UNE-EN 50575) and the emission of hazardous substances, although this is not assessed as currently there is no harmonized technical specification. Therefore, the manufacturer assumes the responsibility for the product conformity to the declared performance. ELKABEL JSC will adopt the following actions respect to the DoP document: • A DoP will correspond to each marketed product, with an alphanumerical identification. • These declarations of performance will be provided only on purchase • The DoP will contain the following information:
Manufacturer’s name
Product code
Use of this product
AVCP System
Notified Body
Declared performance and respective standards
Date and manufacturer’s stamp
List of available DoPs
What does the CE marking look like?
The CE marking symbol must be fixed in a visible, legible and indelible manner on the packaging used to market the cables, and it must be accompanied by additional information that is indicated in the harmonized standard. It is not compulsory for the marking to appear on the cable.
Which are the Euroclasses of the CPR that apply to cables?
The European Union has created a single and uniform classification criterion in the whole of Europe (a common language) to define the fire reaction performance of cables. Hence, some classes have been defined, using classification criteria in agreement the amount of heat emitted in presence of fire. Likewise, it contemplates that the manufacturer, lacking requirements related to fire reaction, can use the “Undetermined performance” option (Euroclass Fca).
Fire propagation and heat emission performance:
Aca - They do not contribute to the fire.
B1ca and B2ca - Minimum contribution to the fire.
Cca - Dca - Eca - Combustible, they contribute the fire, from lower to higher contribution.
Fca - Undetermined contribution properties.
Smoke emission properties. This classification provides information about the opacity of the emitted smoke (s: smoke) .
s1 - Little smoke production and slow smoke propagation.
s1a - Transmittance >80% .
s1b - Transmittance >60% and <80% .
s2 - Average smoke production and propagation.
s3 - None of the above.
Burning droplets/particles This classification provides information about the dripping of burning material during the fire (d: droplet).
d0 - No burning droplets or particles.
d1 - No burning droplets or particles that last more than 10 seconds.
d2 - None of the above.
Acidity performance. This classification provides information about the emission of acid gases during the fire (a: acidity).
a1 - Conductivity < 2,5 µS/mm and pH > 4,3
a2 - Conductivity < 10 µS/mm and pH > 4,3
a3 - None of the above.