Construction Products Regulation

Scope of the CPR

The European Construction Product Regulation (CPR) harmonises the technical specification of building products. The CPR applies to all construction products for fixed installation in buildings or civil engineering works (e.g. bridges or tunnels).
The CPR is intended to ensure the free circulation of construction product in the EU by removing trade barriers, achieved by a 'common technical language' offering uniform assessment methods for the performance of construction products throughout the European Economic Area.

Cable performances covered by the CPR

The harmonised standard for cables EN50575:2014/A1:2016 only specifies requirements for the fire reaction of cables. For this purpose, threshold values are defined for a number of parameters. Key aspects of the CPR are:

• 7 available fire classifications or Euroclasses

• Declaration of Performance (DoP) of the product

• CE marking with associated certification information

• AVCP - Assessment and Verification of Performance

The CPR only aims to harmonise technical product information by providing common tests and a common technical language to describe performance levels. The imposition of a performance level in a specific installation environment remains the prerogative of the national regulators. It is subscribed via Dutch regulations. With the above information, you can therefore select the right cable for the described building or usage function in terms of fire behaviour. 

 

Fire classification

The Euroclass Table defines seven classes (Aca, B1ca, B2ca, Cca, Dca, Eca and Fca) based on their fire reaction, such as heat release and flame spread/propagation.

In this classification, heat release and flame spread/propagation are the main classification criteria, but a series of additional criteria is also defined. Those additional criteria apply only to classes B1ca, B2ca, Cca and Dca and they regard:

Declaration of Performance (DoP)

For every product under the CPR, a DoP (Declaration of Performance) is drawn up. The DoP must be provided with every product. In order to make these documents as accessible as possible for all users, we publish them via our online tool NEXANS TRACKER™. The Declaration of Performance requires the following elements: 

• Unique reference number of the performance declaration
• Identification of the product type
• Intended use, i.e. "Cable for general use in construction works subject to reaction to fire regulations".
• Manufacturer identification + address + contact details
• Applied AVCP system, i.e. system 1+, 3 or 4
• Identification number of the Notified Body having carried out the tasks pertaining to the AVCP, if applicable
• The achieved performance level according to the harmonised product standard, i.e. Reaction to fire according to EN 50575:2014/A1:2016
• Signature for and on behalf of the manufacturer

CE marking

The Declaration of Performance is accompanied by a mandatory CE marking. Without the DoP the CE marking may not be affixed.  The CE marking does not have to be affixed on the cables themselves but may also appear on the label or the packaging. The CE marking contains mandatory elements:

• CE logo
• Identification of the manufacturer + address + contact details
• Unique identification code of the product
• Year of first certification 
• Declared performance class
• Applied harmonised standard + year of publication
• Identification number of the Notified Body
• Unique reference number of the DoP
• Intended use as defined in the harmonised standard, i.e. "Cable for general use in construction works subject to reaction to fire regulations".

AVCP

A manufacturer must comply with a quality process in order to place a CPR compliant construction product on the market. This is the AVCP (Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance). For cables there are 3 assessment systems, which depend on the fire performance.

System 1+ for fire classes Aca, B1ca, B2ca and Cca
System 3 for fire classes Dca and Eca
System 4 for fire class Fca 

• System 1+ for fire classes Aca, B1ca, B2ca and Cca
• System 3 for fire classes Dca and Eca
• System 4 for fire classe Fca

Nexans CPR tutorial

Educate yourself on the CPR with Nexans' tutorial