The harmonised European standard for fire doorsets (EN 16034) has now been ratified by CEN technical committee (CEN/TC33) following the positive vote by the European National Standards Bodies (NSBs). This means that the CE Marking of fire doors in accordance with the Construction Products Regulation 2011 (CPR) will become mandatory if the European Commission (EC) chooses not to reject the standard.
As a manufacturer of fire doors, when will CE marking fire doors become mandatory?
With the standard (EN 16034, Pedestrian doorsets, industrial, commercial, garage doors and openable windows – Product standard, performance characteristics – Fire resisting and/or smoke control characteristics) now ratified having taken into account the editorial comments given by the NSBs, the EC needs to determine whether the standard meets it’s mandate. The EC has been known to reject the harmonisation of a standard but if the standard is not rejected then CE Marking will be mandatory from the latest date by which national standards conflicting with an EN have to be withdrawn. This date has been set as 31/10/2019.
When can I start to CE mark my fire doors?
CE Marking can commence when the EC places the standard “Live” on the Official Journal of the European Union. This likely to be June 2015. Being live on the Official Journal is important as it doesn’t allow Notified Bodies to CE mark before this point.
What will the CE marking of fire doors entail?
BSI must publish BS EN 16034 by 30th April 2015 as this has been designated as the latest date by which an EN has to be implemented at national level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement.
The standard will cover fire resistance, smoke control, self-closing and operation of hold open devices (ability to release). Because of the level of assessment required for fire doors, CE Marking for all companies will need to involve both a notified certification body and a notified test laboratory. There are no derogations for small or micro-enterprises and we recommend that a company should be contacting a notified body to determine the extent of testing that would be required to achieve a rating for the range of fire doorsets that they wish to produce.
CE Marking is already a requirement for windows and external doors and BWF members can get a range of support on CE marking their products here: www.bwf.org.uk/toolkit/ce-marking
2014 has been busy year for standards work, with activity on a wide range of products. BWF is actively participating and keeping a watching brief on over 30 UK and European standard committees and we will inform you of developments and give you plenty of time to feed your views in so that we can represent you effectively through our activities. If you are a BWF member and have any questions, please call our technical helpline on 0844 209 2610.
