With DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2024/1681 of 6 March 2024, the COMMISSION rewrites the performance classes in relation to fire resistance of construction products.
The rules integrates with the EU Regulation on construction products and repeals the previous Decision 2000/367/EC which established a system for classifying the performance of construction products with regard to fire resistance.
- What does the new Regulation provide, why this update and the references to the EU Construction Products Regulation for the regulation of fire performance classes of construction products
DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2024/1681 of 6 March 2024: what it provides
The annex to EU Regulation 2024/1681 repeals, as mentioned, decision 2000/367/EC when the Regulation comes into force (20 days after publication in the OJEU, which took place on 13 June 2024)
The annex to the Regulation contains two sections:
- The symbols;
- Performance classes in relation to the fire resistance of construction products.
In section B, in particular, the reference tables for
- Load-bearing elements without fire compartment function;
- Load-bearing elements with fire compartment function;
- Products and systems for the protection of load-bearing elements;
- Non-load-bearing elements or products with fire compartment function;
- Products intended for ventilation systems (excluding smoke and heat extraction systems);
- Products intended for use in electrical service supply, power control and communication systems in buildings;
- Products for use in smoke and heat control systems.
Performance classes for fire resistance: a necessary update
The Regulation arises from a specific need: the previous decision 2000/367/EC did not contemplate certain performance classes and limited the possibility of declaring a more detailed performance in step with the most recent technological and market developments.
The Commission explains that it was necessary add new classifications of non-load-bearing elements or products with fire compartment function applicable to unloaded roofs, non-mechanical fire barriers for ventilation ducts, penetration seals, combined penetration seals, linear joint seals and ventilation grilles.
Furthermore, it was now obsR classification of load-bearing elements with fire compartment function is required applicable to floors and roofs, actually included in the table relating to load-bearing elements without fire compartment function.
European Performance Classes: Previous Updates
We remind you that again in 2024 the Commission with DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2024/1399 updated the conditions for performance classes in relation to reaction to fire for psolid wood panels and cladding to explicitly limit its application to untreated wood only.
In 2023, in Italy the Decree 14 October 2022 of the Ministry of the Interior has modified the decrees on reaction to fire classification of construction materials and products leaving the valid ones European fire reaction classes for construction products and contributing amendment to section S.1 of the Fire Prevention Code in at tables S.1-6, S.1-7 and S.1-8.
Performance classes for fire resistance: references in the EU Construction Products Regulation
Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011, establishes that the performance classes in relation to the essential characteristics of construction products must be established by the Commission. According to paragraph 2 of Article 27, these classes must be used in harmonized standards.
The definitions, tests and performance criteria are fully described or referred to in the European fire resistance classification standards, the harmonized European product standards, the European testing standards and the relevant parts of the Eurocodes.
Regulation (EU) no. 305/2011
Article 27 – Performance levels or classes
- The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 60 to establish performance classes in relation to the essential characteristics of construction products.
- If the Commission has established performance classes in relation to the essential characteristics of construction products, the European standardization bodies use these classes in the harmonized standards. The TAB organization uses such classes in the European Assessment Documents, where appropriate. If the Commission does not establish performance classes in relation to the essential characteristics of construction products, they may be established by the European standardization bodies in harmonized standards, based on a revised mandate.
- If required by relevant mandates, European standardization bodies shall establish threshold levels in harmonized standards in relation to the essential characteristics and, where appropriate, for the intended uses, which construction products in the Member States must comply with.
- Where the European standardization bodies have established performance classes in a harmonized standard, the TAB organization uses these classes in the European Assessment Documents where they are relevant to the construction product.
Where it deems it appropriate, the TAB organization, with the agreement of the Commission and after consulting the Standing Committee on Construction, establishes in the documents for the
European assessment of performance classes and threshold levels in relation to the essential characteristics of the construction product in the context of the use of the product intended by the manufacturer. - The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 60 to establish the conditions under which a construction product is deemed to satisfy a certain level or class of performance without testing or without further testing.
If the Commission does not establish such conditions, they may be established by the European standardization bodies in harmonized standards, based on a revised mandate. - Where the Commission has established classification systems in accordance with paragraph 1, Member States may determine the performance levels or classes with which construction products must comply in relation to their essential characteristics only on the basis of those classification systems.
- When determining threshold levels or performance classes, the European standardization bodies and the organization of the TABs respect the regulatory needs of the States
members.
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