Everything You Need to Know About the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)

The revised Construction Products Regulation (CPR) has designed new requirements for European material suppliers, particularly concerning the display and reporting of carbon emissions for construction products such as quarry materials, concrete, and asphalt.

What is the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)?

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is a crucial EU legislation that sets standardised requirements for the marketing of construction products, including those used in linear infrastructure. 

It provides a common technical language for assessing construction products' performance and quality consistency and allows for comparing products using the same approach. 

As part of the EU Green Deal, the CPR has been reviewed and updated to ensure reliable information and to compare the environmental performance of products from manufacturers distributing them in the European single market.

What are the new requirements of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)?

The updated CPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/3110) has several essential requirements and significant changes for materials suppliers. These include displaying and reporting carbon emissions for construction products, including quarry materials, concrete, and asphalt. 

To ensure compliance, suppliers should consider the 7 following aspects:

1. Harmonised Standards: The CPR calls for common technical specifications for European construction products, ensuring durability, safety, consistency in quality, and performance. The standards for each product family concerned by the CPR are expected to be issued or revised in the coming years.
2. CE Marking: The CE marking encompasses technical and environmental performances, aligning with the safety and sustainability requirements outlined in the new CPR. Environmental claims must be substantiated and reflected in the product's Digital Product Passport (DPP).
3. Declaration of Performance and Conformity (DoPC): Compliance requires DoPCs to include environmental data, such as the climate impact and technical specifications. These data must be verified and made available to regulatory authorities through the DPP. Until new standards are developed, existing methodologies and standards remain acceptable.
4. Environmental Reporting and Declarations: Suppliers must provide environmental declarations, initially focusing on climate change impacts, specifically CO₂ emissions and energy consumption related to a product's life cycle. These declarations should align with the EN 15804 standard, which sets the construction industry's life cycle assessment approach.
5. Digital Product Passports (DPP): Suppliers must provide digital repositories of product specifications and environmental data. This facilitates access to information for regulatory authorities and product users, such as architects and builders.
6. Lifecycle Assessment: The regulation requires lifecycle environmental impact assessments for products, from raw material acquisition or extraction to final disposal. This references to the EN 15804.
7. Market Access: Compliance with CPR is essential for suppliers to access the EU market and demonstrate their products’ safety, quality, and environmental responsibility.

How can you comply with the Construction Products Regulation?

You may feel lost in the revised regulatory landscape. But ORIS Materials Intelligence offers a solution to help you comply with the revised CPR requirements.

Preparing environmental declarations

ORIS CO₂ Calculator for Aggregates enables suppliers to calculate the specific carbon footprint of their aggregates following international standards such as the EN 15804. 

This tool provides specific CO₂ footprint certificates for each product. The calculator is designed to be user-friendly and cost-effective, making it accessible even to those without specialised knowledge of life cycle assessments.

Ensuring accurate CE marking

By using ORIS to assess and document the environmental performance of their products, suppliers can ensure that their Declarations of Performance and Conformity (DoPC) include the necessary environmental data. 

This comprehensive documentation supports accurate CE marking, reflecting both technical and environmental performance as required by the updated CPR.

In summary, ORIS provides digital tools and platforms to help materials suppliers comply with the new CPR requirements regarding digital product information, environmental declarations, and CE marking.

When will the CPR be enacted?

Here is the calendar for the Construction Products Regulation: 

• December 2024: The new CPR was published in the EU Official Journal.
• January 7, 2025: The new CPR entered into force.
• January 8, 2026: Compliance expected with everything related to disclosures of GHG emissions.
• January 9, 2030: Reporting to include other essential environmental performances.

Why should you be compliant with the Construction Products Regulation now?

The revised CPR is improving the material industry. The regulation facilitates the circulation of products that comply with harmonised standards within the EU and reduces administrative barriers.

If you want to remain competitive and maintain market access in the EU, whether your country is a member of Europe or not, you need not wait to comply with the CPR.

You have everything you need to ensure your products comply with it and meet the EU's sustainability and transparency objectives.

Complying with the CPR now will help your quarry reach its market and facilitate border sales more efficiently. 

This represents an opportunity to showcase your product's safety, sustainability, and reliability with greater transparency for your customers.