New CPR – draft ready. Will fixings reach the market faster?

We have recently reported that Rawlplug has joined the European Tool Association (CEO) as well as its subordinate association, Construction Fixings Europe (CFE), which deals specifically with fixings and fasteners. Just as a reminder: what this means to us is, among other benefits, having access to the most up-to-date market information, and by that means – an ability to respond to the changes in industry trends and regulations even more quickly. [LINK TO PREVIOUS RELEASE]

Sales, trends, pricing

An opportunity to find out what official membership in both these associations entails in practice came with the annual CEO Congress held in Stockholm. Following its first general part, pertaining to global sales, industry trends, and pricing, CFE workgroup meetings were scheduled.

“These items on the agenda interested us the most,” admits Wojciech Linkowski, Technical Support Leader, who represented Rawlplug in Sweden along with Przemysław Tkaczyk, Sales Director. 

Why, you may ask. Simply because, after a brief wrap-up of the year and a presentation of forecasts for the following year, as well as after the official presentation of Rawlplug – already in its role as a CFE/CEO member, there was a hybrid meeting dedicated to the new CPR (Construction Product Regulation), being an extremely important directive regulating the procedure of placing construction products on the market.

European Assessment Documents vs harmonised standards

“The CFE Association has been actively involved in the drafting of this document,” Wojciech Linkowski explains. “According to the draft, there are currently two ways to market a construction product: a mandatory procedure based on harmonised standards and a voluntary procedure based on ETAs being issued with reference to European Assessment Documents.”

This is an important – yet potential – change. The second path still applies to fixings, which often makes it difficult and lengthy to place products on the market. This is due to the promulgation process not being regulated for new EADs, making it difficult to predict when they become valid.