CREAGH CONCRETE PRODUCTS LTD CE Marking – Precast Concrete William Doherty
Creagh Concrete Products Established in 1975 Family owned company UK ...
CE Marking – Creagh's Story Our Response to the Construction Products Regulations
(CE Marking)
Creagh's Journey
Hosted EHO Visit to Toome (Mid 2011)
Fact finding Educational Largely ignored We are experts – don’t need this
Deadline Awareness (1 July 2013)
May/June 2012 – British Precast Draft Guidance A significant project
Why Bother?
Desire to comply with EU Regulations
Improve quality of our products
Unlikely to have significant impact
Market Leader Should Lead
Little motivation concerning this
Agreed But ISO 9001, 14001, 18001, BES 6001, Achilles, QSRMC etc
Ensure Payment
Now there’s a reason
And so it began!
Working Group Formed (July 2012)
Little internal appetite
Project Brief
Obtain all CE marks by 1 July ‘13 Minimal Cost Minimal disruption No consultants
Step 1:Establish What Needs a CE Mark?
For Creagh this meant the following10 products
Hollow-core flooring (EN 1168) Ribbed flooring – spantherm (EN 13224) Wall elements – non structural (EN 14992) Stairs (EN 14843) Retaining wall elements (EN 15258) Concrete Aggregates (EN12620) Agricultural Slats (EN 12737) Blocks (EN 771) Paving Flags (EN1339) T Beams (EN 15037)
Hollow-core flooring (EN 1168) Ribbed flooring – spantherm (EN 13224) Wall elements – (EN 14992) Stairs (EN 14843) Retaining wall elements (EN 15258) Concrete Aggregates(EN12620) Agricultural Slats (EN 12737) Blocks (EN 771) Paving Flags (EN1339) T Beams (EN 15037)
2+ Requires an external policeman 4 permits self declaration of properties (hurray!!)
2+ 2+ 2+ 2+ 2+ 4 2+ 2+ or 4 4 2+
Step 3: Gap Analysis
Factory Production Control (FPC)
Do we meet needs of FPC (ISO 9001 is helpful) Tempted to introduce consultant We are the experts Little appetite – again!! Ownership
Product Verification
Product design match EN standard requirements Variation from structural design codes can be a problem Some issues a concern (blocks and slats)
Deferred to Phase 2
Step 4: Close The Gaps Action plan Deadlines Readiness for Notifiable Body Assessment Robust internal audit Close the final gaps Good to go??
Step 5: Appoint Notifiable Body
Who are these mystery people?
BSI SGS CPC (QSRMC)
Don’t delay on this CPC
We know them They know concrete Experts together Cost not a consideration in choice
And now another CE Mark
Sep 6: Assessment Visits
First Dates Set
28 & 29 Jan (Toomebridge & Ardboe) 5 Feb (Edinburgh)
Covers all phase 1 EN’s Phase 2 to follow
Deal with slat design
significant issue Slats meets customers expectations not EN
Deal with blocks
Need to read standard!!
Step 7: Assessors report NCR’s are anticipated Close off
CE Mark Confirmed - Whoooha!!
Unfortunately Phase 2
Step 8: CE Labelling
Website Posting Downloads Preferred industry norm
Product Not Labelled Despatch Note
Still under discussion
But Its Never Over
Annual Factory Production Control verification and site visits by a Notifiable Body is required to maintain CE marking.
An Observation What is the one concrete product that is currently policed by external bodies to a 2+ attestation level? Pre-mix Concrete Yet No CE Mark is Possible!!
And a Final Observation “CE Marking is only a consistent way of expressing a product’s properties. It is effectively a ‘passport’ allowing a product to be placed on the market in any Member State - rarely, if ever, is CE marking evidence that the product is fit for a particular purpose.” BBA Website. Does this mean it is not a quality mark?
