9/10/2024

Subject: Amendment regarding the activities of “Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance” within the scope of EN 14509 (Self-supporting double-skin metal faced insulation panels – Factory made products – Specifications) standard

On 08.03.2015, the position paper NB-CPR/SH02/12/029rev1 was published by the Fire Technical Committee, one of the Construction Products Regulation Notified Organizations groups, on the CIRCABC (Communication and Information Resource Centre for Administrations, Businesses and Citizens) website of the European Union.

This guidance document describes the sampling for reaction to fire characteristics, assessment and verification of constancy of performance, selection of system 1 or system 3 and responsibilities within the scope of Sandwich Panels, EN 14509 (Assessment and Verification) standard.

In case of using polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (PUR or PIR) insulation core in sandwich panels manufactured within the scope of EN 14509, chemical raw materials are supplied from main chemical suppliers. These chemicals are mixed by the sandwich panel manufacturer during panel production and made suitable for production to be used as the insulation core.

Although the chemical raw materials used often contain fire retardants (flame retardants), the content and quantity information of these chemicals are not shared by suppliers for confidentiality reasons. For this reason, sandwich panel manufacturers cannot be completely sure whether fire retardants (flame retardants) are added to the raw materials they use.

For sandwich panels where the polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (PUR or PIR) insulation core is physically produced on the sandwich panel manufacturer’s production line and has a reaction to fire class of “C” or better (A1, A2, B):

  1. If the panel manufacturer adds a fire retardant (flame retardant) themselves or carries out an activity that will improve the reaction to fire classification of the product, the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance System should be applied as “System 1”.
  2. If the panel manufacturer does not add fire retardant (flame retardant) themselves and it is not known whether fire retardant (flame retardant) has been added to any raw material due to confidentiality reasons by the raw material supplier, the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance System should again be applied as “System 1”.
  3. When the panel manufacturer wishes to apply for the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance System “System 3”, they must provide a written declaration to the Notified Body/Technical Approval Authority as in the example below:

All of our chemical raw material suppliers confirm that the raw materials used during the production of polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (PUR or PIR) Insulation core do not contain fire retardants. Therefore, it is appropriate to select the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance System as “System 3”.

For EN 14509 standard:

  1. Table ZA.2 for the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance Systems, (see EN 14509 standard, Table ZA.2 – Attestation of conformity systems)
  2. Table ZA.3.1 for the responsibilities of the Manufacturer and the Notified Body for the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance Systems “System 1” (See EN 14509 standard Table ZA.3.1 – Assignment of evaluation of conformity tasks for sandwich panels under system 1)
  3. The responsibilities of the Manufacturer and Notified Body for the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance Systems “System 3” in Table ZA.3.2 (See EN 14509 standard Table ZA.3.2 – Assignment of evaluation of conformity tasks for sandwich panels under system 3) should be reviewed.

EFECTIS group provides services with EFECTIS ERA AVRASYA TEST VE BELGELENDİRME AŞ, an EU Notified Body number 2184, for all activities within the scope of “System 1” and “System 3” of the above-mentioned, Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance Systems.

Manufacturers who have previously performed System 3 certification according to the EN 14509 standard are required to renew their certification processes and perform CE marking according to System 1, in cases where certification according to “System 1” of the Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance Systems is appropriate, in line with the information provided above.