Under the Construction Products Regulation, which came into full effect across the EU on 1 July 2013, all construction products covered by a European Harmonised Standard require a Declaration of Performance and be CE marked before such products can be placed on the market. From 1 July 2014 , the requirements of the Construction Products Regulation will apply to steel fabricators covered by I.S. EN 1090-1:2009.
A European Harmonised Standard for steel - EN 1090-1:2009 Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures - Part 1: Requirements for conformity assessment of structural components was approved by the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN – the European Committee for Standardi s ation) on 15 June 2008 and was first published on 1 July 2009. The standard was subsequently published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland on 9 September 2009. The standard's applicability date as a harmonised European standard was 1 January 2011 as agreed by the European Commission in consultation with Member States. Subsequently, the European Commission extended the standard's applicability date as it recognised that there were a large number of small steelwork fabricators who would benefit from the extra time. It was anticipated that the sector needed a little more time to adapt and prepare, and agreed on 1 July 2014 as the date of the end of the co-existence period. Accordingly, with the co-existence period coming to an end, CE marking will be mandatory for fabricated structural steelwork in accordance with I.S. EN 1090-1 placed o n the market on or after 1 July. I understand that the Manufacturing Advisory Service in the United Kingdom provide advice and a small amount of funding to steel fabricators to assist them with compliance; there is no similar funding available in Ireland. However, my Department has been working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure t he industry was aware and prepared for the implementation of the Construction Products Regulation in Ireland. My Department understands from discussions with a number of industry sources that a significant number of steel fabricators operating in the State are well advanced in establishing the systems necessary to comply with their obligations under the Construction Products Regulation and, more specifically, the requirements of I.S. EN 1090-1:2009.
