What is the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)?
■ The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) establishes conditions for placing or making construction products available on the market by setting harmonized standards for declaring the performance of these products in relation to their essential characteristics. It also regulates the use of CE marking and provides standardized marketing rules within the EU.
■ This regulation introduces a unified technical language to evaluate the performance of construction products, ensuring that professionals, public authorities, and consumers have access to dependable information regarding the performance of construction products. This facilitates the comparison of products from various manufacturers across diff erent countries, achieved by standardizing the methods for testing and classifying construction products, including cables.
■ CPR stands for the European Construction Product Regulation. It applies to any product that, once incorporated into a building, becomes a permanent part and influences the building's overall performance.
■ The regulation also emphasizes the fire safety aspects of cables used in buildings. Consequently, cables have been included in the European classification system under the CPR. The EN 50575:2014 standard specifically covers "Power, control, and communication cables - Cables for general applications in construction works subject to reaction to fire requirements."
■ Power, control and communication cables which are permanently installed in structures is governed by EU Regulation 305/2011(known as the "Construction Products Regulation"). The Construction Products Guideline 89/10/EEC has been superseded by the Construction Products Regulation(CPR)305/2011.
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) aims to enhance building safety and efficiency with key goals:
■ Fire Safety: Increase building safety in fire situations.
■ Accessibility and Safety: Ensure safe, accessible buildings.
■ Health and Environment: Promote health protection and environmental conservation.
■ Resource Efficiency: Reduce material waste and energy use.
■ Structural Integrity: Maintain mechanical resistance and stability.
■ Energy Efficiency: Improve energy economy and heat retention.
■ Sustainable Resources: Support sustainable use of natural resources.
The following fire safety standards identify testing apparatus and procedures for testing cable construction materials.These tests evaluate cabling under various fire conditions and measure heat release, smoke and gas production, acidity,and conductivity.
■ EN 50575 is the main fire safety standard.
■ EN 50575 include:
EN50576
covers extended application of test results for electric cables, electric cable systems,
cable sheaths, flaw detection, high-voltage tests, insulated cables, and test equipment.
EN13501
is for fire classification of construction products and building elements.
Part 6 of the classification dictates using test data from reaction-to-fire tests.
EN50399
standardises reaction-to-fire tests and common test methods for cables under fire conditions.
Establishes heat release and smoke production measurement on cables during flame spread test,
identifying test apparatus, procedures, and results.
The Declaration of Performance certifies compliance with the fire classes and thus forms the requirement for using the cables for the applications defined by the EU countries. Each country will decide how CPR Euroclasses will be used in construction
Depending on the conformity procedure, an official notified body may be required to perform defined tasks for the manufacturer to receive certification. The notified bodies, approved by the Member States and confirmed by the EU, conduct the certification tests in accredited laboratories.
They also verify conformity at the manufacturers and issue conformity statements if the tests are positive. Such notified bodies must be independent and authorized only in the EU and EEA countries. They are authorized to perform cable certification following approval by the government authorities and
registration in the EU database.
Notified laboratories have to be registered on NANDO (New Approach Notified and Designated Organizations) Information System to fully perform all services as a notified product certification and testing laboratory for EN 50575
You can find the complete list at:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/single-market-compliance-space/#/home
The manufacturer is required to create a Declaration of Performance (DoP), a mandatory legal document that must be publicly available. In this document, the manufacturer must identify the product and its intended use, detailing the performance of the cable with respect to its essential characteristics.
Presently, these characteristics include safety in case of fire (fire reaction as per EN 50575) and the emission of hazardous substances.
■ The DoP will contain the following information:
- Manufacturer’s name.
- Product code.
- Traceability.
- Use of this product.
- AVCP System.
- Notified Body.
- Declared performance and respective standards.
- Date and manufacturer’s stamp.
The ZION product label shown on the right serves as an example of a Euroclass label, which includes several legally mandated elements. These elements consist of the CE Mark, the identity of the Notified Body that tested the product, the cross-reference number for the Declaration of Performance (DoP),
the classification for reaction to fire, and an environmental declaration. Additionally, ZION incorporates two extra features into its labels to provide further information and enhance user understanding.
■ Requirements for cables as a construction product
EN 13501-6
Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 6: Classification using data from reaction to fire tests on electric cables.
EN lS0 1716
Reaction to fire tests for products - Determination of the gross heat of combustion (calorific value) (ls0 1716).
EN 50399
Common test methods for cables under fire conditions - Heat release and smoke production measurement on cables during flame spread test - Test apparatus, procedures, results.
EN 60332-1-2
Tests on electric and optical fiber cables under fire conditions - Part 1-2: Test for vertical flame propagation for a single insulated wire or cable - Procedure for 1 kW pre-mixed flame (lEC 603321-2).
EN 60754-2
Test on gases evolved during combustion of materials from cables - Part 2: Determination of acidity (by pH measurement) and conductivity(lEC 60754-2).
EN 61034-2
Measurement of smoke density of cables burning under defined conditions - Part 2: Test procedure and requirements (lEC 61034-2).
UL 
About Product 
About Purchase 
