esen
esen

GLOSSARY

Accreditation: Accreditation is the international tool used to generate confidence in the correct performance of a very specific type of activity called Conformity Assessment Activities, which include testing, calibration, inspection, certification and verification, among others. In general, any activity that assesses whether a product, service, system, installation, etc. conforms to certain requirements can be subject to accreditation (Source: ENAC)

Assembled system: Part of works which results from assembling the components of a kit according to “instruction for assembly and installation” in accordance with the provisions of the technical specification of the kit, respecting national provisions concerning the execution of construction works, under the responsibility of the one who executes the works (i.e. assembles and installs the system defined in the technical specification of the kit).

Authorised representative: Any natural or legal person established within the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on his behalf in relation to specified tasks.

Basic work requirements: The requirements to be fulfilled by construction works when applicable, which constitutes the general and specific criteria related to e.g. the safety, health and the environment, and are set out in the CPR, art.3 and Annex I.

CE marking (Conformité Européenne): A Distinctive that means that products sold in the European Economic Area (EEA) have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements. By affixing the CE marking to a product, a manufacturer declares that the product meets all the legal requirements for CE marking and can be sold throughout the EEA.

Class: A range of levels, delimited by a minimum and a maximum value, of performance of a construction product.

Construction product: Any product or kit which is produced and placed on the market for incorporation in a permanent manner in construction works or parts thereof and the performance of which has an effect on the performance of the construction works with respect to the basic requirements for construction works.

Construction work: Building or civil engineering work.

Control plan (for a product): Document which is referred to in an ETA and specifies, for each of the tasks contained in the system(s) of attestation of conformity, the actions to be undertaken by the manufacturer and, as far as relevant, the notified body/bodies.

Declared value (of product characteristic): Performance of a product with regard to a regulatory product characteristic (not covered by regulatory classes) expressed in the form of a value in accordance with verification methods laid down in the technical specification of the product.

Distributor: Any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a construction product available on the market.

EOTA: is the European Organisation for Technical Assessment in the area of construction products. It is based in Brussels (Belgium). EOTA is a non-profit organisation which – using the scientific and technological expertise of its Members – develops and adopts European Assessment Documents (EAD). EOTA co-ordinates the application of the procedures set out for a request for a European Technical Assessment (ETA) and for the procedure adopting a European Assessment Document (EAD). EOTA ensures that adopted EADs and references to ETAs are kept publicly available. EOTA also informs the European Commission (EC) and the Standing Committee on Construction of any question related to the preparation of EADs and suggests improvements to the EC based on its experience gained.

Essential characteristics: means those characteristics of the construction product which relate to the basic requirements for construction works.

European Technical Assessment (ETA): The documented assessment of the performance of a construction product, in relation to its essential characteristics, in accordance with the respective European Assessment Document.

European Assessment Document (EAD): Document adopted by the organisation of TABs for the purposes of issuing European Technical Assessments.

Factory production control: Documented, permanent and internal control of production in a factory, in accordance with the relevant harmonised technical specifications.

Harmonised standard: Standard adopted by one of the European standardisation bodies listed in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC, on the basis of a request issued by the Commission, in accordance with Article 6 of that Directive.

Harmonised technical specifications: Harmonised standards and European Assessment Documents.

Identification (of a product): Product characteristics and methods for their verification, allowing to compare a given product with the one that is described in the technical specification.

Importer means any natural or legal person established within the Union, who places a construction product from a third country on the Union market.

Incorporation (of products in works): means the incorporation of a product in a permanent manner in the works means that its removal reduces the performance capabilities of the works, and that the dismantling or the replacement of the product are operations which involve construction activities.

Intended use: means the intended use of the construction product as defined in the applicable harmonised technical specification.

Kit: means a construction product placed on the market by a single manufacturer as a set of at least two separate components that need to be put together to be incor­porated in the construction works.

Level: means the result of the assessment of the performance of a construction product in relation to its essential characteristics, expressed as a numerical value.

Life cycle: means the consecutive and interlinked stages of a construction product’s life, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal.

Maintenance (of works): A set of preventive and other measures which are applied to the works in order to enable the works to fulfil all its functions during its working life. These measures include cleaning, servicing, repainting, repairing, replacing parts of the works where needed, etc.

Manufacturer: Any natural or legal person who manufactures a construction product or who has such a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under his name or trademark.

Methods of verification (for products): Verification methods used to determine the performance of the products in relation to the requirements for the works (calculations, tests, engineering knowledge, evaluation of site experience, etc.).

Notified Body: Organisation designated by an EU country to assess the conformity of certain products before being placed on the market. These bodies carry out tasks related to conformity assessment procedures set out in the applicable legislation, when a third party is required.

Performance of a construction product: Performance related to the relevant essential characteristics, expressed by level or class, or in a description.

Product-type: means the set of representative performance levels or classes of a construction product, in relation to its essential characteristics, produced using a given combination of raw materials or other elements in a specific production process.

Specific Technical Documentation: Documentation demonstrating that methods within the applicable system for assessment and verification of constancy of performance have been replaced by other methods, provided that the results obtained by those other methods are equivalent to the results obtained by the test methods of the corresponding harmonised standard.

System: Part of the works made of a particular combination of a set of defined products, and particular design methods for the system, and/or particular execution procedures.

Technical Assessment Body (TAB): Body responsible to carry out the assessment and issue the ETA in a product area for which it has been designated.

Threshold level:  means a minimum or maximum performance level of an essential characteristic of a construction product.

UEAtc: Network of European institutes and institutes from neighbouring countries. Its members develop and maintain a proficient voluntary technical approval process supporting innovation in the building and construction sector, share experiences and try to avoid, whenever possible and thanks to a collaborative approach, useless repetition of activities, to the benefit of the stakeholders involved in the process. In addition, the members may carry out other specific activities such as research, testing, certification, development of specifications, etc.

WFTAO: World Federation of Technical Assessment Organisations, a worldwide network for co-ordinating and facilitating the technical assessment of innovation in the construction field. WFTAO comprises officially recognised national bodies active in the field of technical assessments for construction products and systems.

Working life (of products): Period of time during which the performances of the product are maintained – under the corresponding service conditions – at a level compatible with the intended use conditions.