The European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA) would like to share with you the main results of the independent study developed by Center for Industrial Studies (CSIL) 'EADs and ETAs: Added value to the construction sector'.
Background
The current Construction Product Regulation (CPR) lays down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products. For CE marking, the performance of construction products is assessed either against a harmonised standard (hEN) developed by CEN or, if the product is not fully covered by an hEN, against a European Assessment Document (EAD) developed by EOTA. The EOTA route thus provides manufacturers of non-standard products with a way to obtain the CE marking to sell their product across the internal market – and in many cases also beyond.
If the performance of a product cannot be fully assessed based on an existing hEN, manufacturers have the option to submit a request for a product-specific European Technical Assessment (ETA) to a Technical Assessment Body (TAB). The ETA is based on a European Assessment Document (EAD) developed by EOTA along with the TABs.
Since the CPR came into force until the end of 2019, EOTA has developed 439 EADs based on which the TABs have issued 7,708 ETAs.
Study findings – EADs and ETAs add value to the construction sector
The study provides interesting insights into the added value of the ETA route to CE marking. The study highlights, in particular, that:
1. ETAs have a very high standing among industry professionals both within and beyond the EU, helping European manufacturers to increase their sales and compete on global markets (72% of all stakeholders).
2. The EOTA route enhances the manufacturers’ potential for product innovation giving them confidence that they can bring their any non-standard product to the European market at any time. (73 % of all stakeholders).
3. The EOTA and CEN route complement each other. The study could not confirm claims of competition between the two routes. Both routes rather tend to focus on different products. Higher numbers of EADs in some product areas not or only loosely covered by hENs have been found to be necessary and productive to these areas, fostering innovation and competition among market actors.
A large majority of the survey respondents indicated that the ETA route provides added value for the entire construction sector. All these are good reasons to continue the existing CEN/EOTA harmonisation regime into the future. We look forward to working with you toward this objective.