On Monday 16 September 2019, SBS, EuroWindoor and EDSF published a joint position calling on the European Commission to take measures to avoid the imminent disruption of the internal market for fire doors.

The current situation stems from the complex standardisation process. Harmonised standards are the foundation of the internal market and are developed on the request of the European Commission. An old mandate, the recent delays in agreeing on templates and internal regulations have resulted in a constrained standardisation process.

To minimise the impact on the sector, SBS, EuroWindoor and E.D.S.F. are calling on the European Commission to implement a three-step approach:
• Extend the co-existence period beyond 1 November 2019 for EN 16034, a standard for fire resisting and/or smoke control characteristics of the pedestrian doorsets, industrial, commercial, garage doors and openable windows, following its citation as a harmonised standard in the Official Journal of the European Union in 2016
• Ensure that the co-existence period for EN 16034 is aligned with the co-existence period for EN 14351-2, a standard for windows and doors on the performance characteristics for internal pedestrian doorsets
• Cite EN 14351-2 in the Official Journal of the European Union without any further delay

SBS Director Christel Davidson said: “The implementation of the above three steps would allow the internal market for fire doors to deliver its full potential while ensuring that SMEs remain competitive.”

The full declaration is available via the following link.

 

Source: Small Business Standards press release sent on Monday 16 September 2019