Glass for Europe launches Guide to Construction Products Regulation

Out with the old and in with the new: the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) has replaced the Construction Products Directive. To ensure the industry stays abreast of these latest developments, Glass for Europe is delighted to announce the launch of a Q&A guide to the CPR. The timely guide, published ahead of the 1 July 2013 implementation deadline, not only explains what the main changes will be, it steers the value chain to glass-specific answers tailored to address its needs.     

"We realise that picking out what industry wants to know and needs to apply from a very general piece of EU legislation is not necessarily easy. The guide aims to bridge the gap from legislation to real industrial practice because we feel that it is part of Glass for Europe’s mission to give meaningful support to the glass industry,” explains Bertrand Cazes, Secretary General of Glass for Europe.

The new regulation sets out the rules governing when and under which conditions, CE marking must accompany construction products placed on the EU market. Therefore, it applies to most glass products for use in buildings and their derived products, making it essential for stakeholders to understand what the new rules and procedures mean for their businesses.

“All in all the CPR is an improvement because it clarifies and defines the roles and obligations of each stakeholder and simplifies procedures, reducing the expenses related to tests. But some issues still need clarification because of the specificity of the glass sector. The merit of the Glass for Europe guide is that it provides practical examples,” says Anne Minne, Chairwoman of Glass for Europe’s Standardisation Committee.

About Glass for Europe

Glass for Europe is the trade association for Europe’s manufacturers of flat glass. Flat glass is the material that goes into a variety of end-products and primarily in windows and façades for buildings, windscreens and windows for automotive and transport as well as glass covers, connectors and mirrors for solar-energy equipments. Flat glass is also used for many other applications such as furniture, electronics, appliances, etc.

Glass for Europe has four members: AGC Glass Europe, NSG-Group, Saint-Gobain Glass and Sisecam-Trakya Cam and works in association with Guardian. Altogether, these five companies represent 90% of Europe’s flat glass production.