You may have heard about CPR in recent days; herewith we’d like to explain in a condensed form what CPR is and how this regulation impacts businesses with cable products.
New EU regulation 305/2011, also known as the “Construction Products Regulation” or “CPR regulation”, affects all products placed anywhere on the European Economic Area market for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works such as buildings or other civil works (including tunnels, bridges, metro stations, etc.) In our case, it affects all cables permanently installed in buildings or other civil works – all horizontal and backbone cables. Patch cords are out of scope.
Effective from 1 July 2016, cable manufacturers may include CE marking on those of their products that have been tested and certified by a notified body, and may issue a corresponding declaration of performance. In our case, as a subsequent supply chain member, this will concern the selection of cables coming from the cable manufacturers with CE marking (tested & certified cables) as our clients will require our products (trunk cables, pre-terms, etc.) to be compatible with the CPR regulation. One who places such a product on the market in the EU is responsible to comply with the CPR obligations. This means either the actual manufacturer or the importer. A requirement of this regulation that concerns the structured cabling industry is “Safety in case of fire”. That is covered in EN 50575:2014 – the harmonised European standard which specifies the requirements for cables used in permanent constructions with regard to their reaction to fire.
The Official Journal of the European Union therefore included the requirements for CE marking for cables for Safety in the Event of Fire. There is a 1-year transition period from 1 July 2016. On 1 July 2017, all cables supplied to the construction industry will have a mandatory requirement to apply CE marking to their products according to the appropriate European or national regulation level.
Sylex is making all efforts necessary to be prepared for this 1-year transition phase and we will be available to provide support to our clients. We are in extensive communication with cable manufacturers regarding this new regulation in order to have certified cables ready for you as soon as they become available. For certain product groups, this will be associated with minor cable construction modifications – please contact your sales representative at Sylex for further details.
