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CROSS Safety Report

Products installed without CE-marking due to lower cost

Report ID: 836 Published: 1 January 2020 Region: CROSS-UK

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Overview

Another report from Germany concerns products that have been delivered and installed on a construction site without any CE marking and Declaration of Performance (DoP) at all.

Key Learning Outcomes

For construction professionals and suppliers:

  • Substitution of construction elements should not be made without design team verification

  • Not meeting the requirement for CE-marking and documentation might lead to legal action

For civil and structural design engineers:

  • Be aware to only specify construction products that have been declared and certified as compliant (in the case of this report to BS EN 1090 for steel structures)

Full Report

Find out more about the Full Report

The Full Report below has been submitted to CROSS and describes the reporter’s experience. The text has been edited for clarity and to ensure anonymity and confidentiality by removing any identifiable details. If you would like to know more about our secure reporting process or submit a report yourself, please visit the reporting to CROSS-UK page.

 

Another report from Germany concerns products that have been delivered and installed on a construction site without any CE-marking and Declaration of Performance (DoP) at all. Following a request from the design review engineer, it was stated by the client that the product was chosen because of its low cost.

The contractor had provided two different proposals with costs for the products with and without CE-marking and the corresponding documentation. The cost was up to 25% lower for the products without CE-marking. For economic reasons, the client chose the lower cost product without CE-marking. The reporter fears that required quality standards for fabrication of such products (in this case BS EN 1090 for steel structures) are not met and that this kind of behaviour is becoming common practice.

Expert Panel Comments

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Expert Panels comment on the reports we receive. They use their experience to help you understand what can be learned from the reports. If you would like to know more, please visit the CROSS-UK Expert Panels page.

It is known that some contractors and fabricators claim higher costs for providing all documents related to CE-markings and the related document management charges. Nevertheless, it is illegal to sell and trade products in the European Economic Area countries if the CE-marking is missing and a harmonised European standard exists (in this case EN 1090) for the construction product. Even if the product material properties are sufficient, simply ignoring the requirement for CE-marking and documentation is a deficiency that might lead to legal action.

it is illegal to sell and trade products in the European Economic Area countries if the CE-marking is missing and a harmonised European standard exists (in this case EN 1090) for the construction product

Designers should only specify construction products that have been declared and certified as compliant. Linked to CROSS report DE-01, the designer should also know all the product properties which they require and then check that what is offered is satisfactory.

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