Page 25 - Parquet International luglio 2014

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characteristics deemed essential for its safe use. Another big innovation regards the re- sponsibility of distributors of construction materials and articles. Until now, dealers marketed their products without posing themselves too many problems, but as of July 2013, they will be required to provide active vigilance over all the goods that enter their warehouses. These include making sure that the product has the CE Mark and that it is always accompanied by its "Document of Performance” (DoP) as well as its opera- tion instructions and safety information. Distributors must also guarantee - for the en- tire period in which the product is under their responsibility - that the conditions of storage and shipping do not compromise the conformity of the product to its Document of Performance.
What are the changes for manufacturers, in- stead? The DoP undoubtedly represents a challenging form of certification, firstly be- cause it must be issued for every single prod- uct and secondly because the distributor is assigned the same degree of responsibility for the branded products produced by others as he has for the products he produces himself. EU Regulation 305/2011 will certainly ac- celerate the selection of supplies (and sup- pliers) and all the other protagonists in the building world and eliminate all room for maneuver by "improvised" producers. Direct responsibility is assigned at every link in the chain, and this includes distributors/retailers, who are obliged to sell products that respect the European standards in force and there- fore exert due diligence in enforcing the re-
spect of the new standardized terms for the sale of construction products. Before launch- ing a product on the market, these operators must make sure that it bears the CE Mark and that it always comes with its "Document of Performance” as well as its operation in- structions and safety information. Whenev- er they have reason to believe that a con- struction product or material does not com- ply with the DoP, it is very unwise to put it on sale before it complies with regulations or before its DoP is correct.
Whenever a product poses a risk to users, the manufacturer or the importer and market vigilance authorities must be informed. The former two must ensure - for the entire pe- riod in which the product is under their re- sponsibility - that the conditions of storage and shipping do not compromise the con- formity of the product to its Document of Performances. Whenever they believe they have launched a non-conforming product in the market, they must make sure that all the corrective measures have been adopted or that it is called back. Whenever the product poses a risk to users, the competent author- ities in the Nation States in which the prod- uct has been marketed must be immediate- ly informed, and on the basis of ample jus- tification the latter will issue a request to re- ceive all the information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the product to Declaration of Performance. Whenever a manufacturer markets a prod- uct under his own trademark or modifies any product to the extent that conformity to its DoP is significantly modified, he will be re- quired to prepare a DoP and have the CE Mark affixed.
What the Declaration of Performance (DoP) contains:
The certification process is a procedure by which a product's production and per- formance are declared. assessed, certified
and guaranteed through the calculations and checks specified in the DoP, the docu- ment in which a product's various types of performance are defined in replacement of
the previous Conformity Certificate and a necessary step in obtaining the CE Mark. In
a nutshell, the manufacturer must draft a technical "passport" that describes the es- sential characteristics of just one specific product and not a construction product. R
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