The European Association for Passive Fire Protection (EAPFP) has recommended that fire resistive materials and systems (including intumescent coatings, sprays, boards and mats) should be required to carry AVCP 1 or 1+ Levels in relation to CE marking.
The Association is calling for such a move as it believes third party involvement is key to guaranteeing the conformity of the materials and systems to the relevant European Assessment Document (EAD), as well as ensuring constancy of performance.
The EAPFP declares that only third party fire laboratories can provide the evidence needed to show compliance to building regulations. It also asserts that continuous third party monitoring of fire resistive materials and systems is key to ensuring that they will show the same fire resistance performance as tested if properly installed and maintained.
CE marking for fire resistive materials and systems is currently voluntary, with the Construction Product Regulation (CPR) describing the framework for CE marking for construction products. This currently points to the European Assessment Document (EAD), previously European Technical Assessment Guideline (ETAG), in which the rules are laid down to achieve CE marking.
Within EADs, third party involvement is distinguished in different levels of so-called Attestation and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP), with the European Commission deciding which products reside in which AVCP level:
– System 1+: product certification, continuous surveillance and audit testing by third party
– System 1: product certification and continuous surveillance by third party
– System 2+: factory production control certification with continuous surveillance by third party
– System 3: (initial) determination of product type only by a third party
– System 4: manufacturer’s tasks only
The EAPFP is a strong advocate for third party engagement for fire resistive materials and systems, as EAPFP believes this provides a clear level playing field as well as transparency and confidence for fire protection engineers, architects and building owners.
