News: IFSA STAYING AHEAD OF THE CE MARKING DEADLINE

IFSA wants its Members to be at the forefront of the industry when it comes to the implementation of the CPR (Construction Product Regulations) and the associated requirement to apply the CE mark, when it is implemented in July 2013.

To this end, it held a second Workshop on behalf of its Members to review the current state of play in respect of the hurdles which have to be overcome by manufacturers and factors if they are to meet the CPR objectives by the beginning of July. The process leading to CE marking and compliance with the CPR are anything but clear and every forum held to clarify the situation, either from a European perspective, or nationally, gives out a different message. Certainly, the national regulators, or regulatory guidance, are not helping to clarify what is expected from the fire protection industry after this date and the industry is being left to find its own solutions.

The IFSA Workshop was a forum where the Members shared the information which they had gleaned from reading, or from meetings and seminars held by related Associations and it soon became obvious that IFSA Members were among the best informed as to what the future direction should be. The Workshop reviewed the current status of EN product standards (hEN’s) and the European technical approvals that are critical to the CE marking process. IFSA plotted a route map for its Members so that individual companies and the associated IFSA committees can contribute to the completion of any documents which were identified as barriers to the completion of the process. Once these barriers have been removed, the IFSA Members will be amongst the first to be able to offer CE marked products across Europe.