European
Standards and CE Marking
The Harmonised Standard for Sandwich Panels
Insulated panels or sandwich panels are one of a number of construction
products for which a harmonised standard is being prepared. Standards are
written by CEN.
In the case of sandwich panels a committee of European
experts, chaired by EPIC, have developed a standard covering the use
of panels
for external
roofs and walls and internally for walls and ceilings. The standard – EN
14509 – has been formally accepted and published in the Member States and is now awaiting publication in the EUOJ, anticipated December 2008, after which CE Marking can start.
CE Marking
of panels and essential characteristics
CE Marking is a label fixed to the product, packaging or accompanying
documentation. It contains information provided by the manufacturer that
declares minimum
guaranteed performance values for the principal characteristics of the
panel as set out in the harmonised standard EN 14509.
| The CE Marking for sandwich panels
will contain the following information. |
| • |
Identification of the product and its intended use
i.e. roof/wall; internal/external; ceiling etc |
| • |
Description of the main components
such as facings, core insulation etc |
| • |
Declaration of the main mechanical characteristics
such as tensile, shear and compressive strength; bending resistance
etc. |
| • |
Declaration of the relevant fire characteristics. These
may include reaction to fire; fire resistance; external fire performance
(roofs). |
| Other information may be added where
relevant for the panel and its intended application. These may include: |
| • |
Sound absorption and attenuation |
| • |
Air permeability |
| • |
Water permeability |
CE Marking and UK Building Regulations
The CE Marking is not mandatory in the UK for construction products although
the expectation is that all products will be CE marked in order to provide
presumption of conformity, parity with competitors and enhanced market
confidence. It is currently also not mandatory in Sweden and the Republic
of Ireland. However, if manufacturers wish to export to any of the other
Member States, their products will be required to meet CE marking requirements
and bear the marking.
Two of the essential characteristics covered by
EN 14509 are also essential requirements of the UK Building Regulations – Thermal
Performance and Fire Performance. Values on the CE Marking for these
characteristics
my therefore be used as part of regulatory compliance.
Thermal performance
Thermal transmittance or ‘U’-value is an essential requirement
of both the Standard and within Building Regulations AD-L: Energy Conservation.
Standard EN 14509 describes the calculation methodology for determining
the U-value for a panel taking account of the insulation and other components
as well as the profile of the facings.
[Important note. Thermal transmittance
calculation methods described in the CEN Standards EN 1316X series for
general insulation products
are not
relevant to sandwich panels and must not be used to calculate U-values
for sandwich panels.
Fire performance
a) Reaction to fire. There is an equivalent European classification for
the well-known requirements for spread of flame (i.e. Class 0 etc or
AA, AB etc for roofs). The corresponding euroclasses are set out in the
European
Supplement to Approved Document B and are described in the EPIC Guide
to Fire Safety (section 9.4.2).
b) Fire resistance. Fire resistance classifications
are identical between the Standard and the Building Requirements and
are expressed in terms
of structural and insulation integrity.
General information on CE Marking
CE Marking and the
Construction Products Directive (CPD)
The CPD is one of the "New Approach" Directives, which seek
to remove technical barriers to trade within the European Economic Area
(EEA)
as part of the move to complete the Single Market. The EEA comprises
the European Community and those states in the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) other than Switzerland.
The intention of the CPD is to replace
existing national standards and technical approvals with a single set
of European-wide technical specifications
for construction products. Any manufacturer whose products are specified
and CE marked according to European technical specifications cannot have
his product refused entry to EEA markets on technical grounds. Under
the CPD, a product bearing the CE marking will be presumed to meet the
requirements
of these specifications.
Application of the regulations to the UK
In the UK, the CPD was implemented by the Construction Products Regulations,
which came into force on 27 December 1991. In 1994, the CPD was amended
by the "CE marking" Directive. This Directive was implemented
in the UK by the Construction Products (Amendment) Regulations. They
came into force on 1 January 1995.
The Regulations apply to products which
are "produced for incorporation
in a permanent manner in works". "Works" include buildings,
roads, bridges and other civil engineering works.
Products covered by
the Regulations can be legally placed on the market if they can be demonstrated
to have the characteristics (e.g. tensile
strength, resistance to water penetration) necessary to allow the construction
works
to meet the requirements of regulations (e.g., the Building Regulations).
Where products bear the CE marking, it will be presumed that they meet
the requirements of European technical specifications.
The CPD seeks to
remove the various barriers by establishing a single, agreed, standard
for demonstrating the performance of particular products,
and a system of certification and test bodies that are recognised as
competent throughout the Community.
What does the CE marking mean?
The CE marking is, in effect, a "passport" for manufacturers
to market their products throughout the EEA. However, products declared
characteristics
will still need to satisfy the level of performance set by the Member State
where it is intended to be used.
The CE marking must be affixed according
to a number of rules. The marking must be no less than 5mm high, and
must respect the dimensions of the graduated
diagram
shown below.
Meaning of the CE Marking for panels
The CE Marking is the manufacturers declaration of the panel and its
characteristics that make it fit for purpose for the intended application.
Each manufacturer
is legally responsible for the declarations on the CE Marking, which may
be derived from their own testing or by third party testing. All fire performance
declarations
have to be supported by third party test certification.
| In order to apply CE Marking to panels
the manufacturer shall: |
| • |
Have in place a factory production
control system to the standards set out in the Harmonised Standard. |
| • |
Ensure that panels be within
the dimensional tolerances set out in the standard |
| • |
Have satisfied the criteria for durability
for the product as determined by its core material and intended application
(external applications only). |
The
CE
Marking is not a quality mark or statement. It is a declaration
that shows conformity to the harmonised standard and provides parity
with
competitors.
Designers and
specifiers must always ensure that panels are suitable for their intended
purpose. The Standard does not contain minimum or threshold levels and
therefore a panel
that has the strength characteristics suitable for an internal partition
wall may not be suitable for external wall applications. It is for this
reason that the Standard requires the manufacturer to state for which
applications the product may be used – e.g. internal/external; roofs/walls/ceilings.
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Also in this section:
Preferred cladding choice | Why
use insulated panels - benefits |
Design Guides | Picture
gallery | Refurbishment | Insulated panels and achieving BREEAM ratings |
