CPR-2024: What It Means for Concrete and Steel Manufacturers

The revised European legislation for construction products, CPR-2024, has significant implications. As a manufacturer of precast concrete (products) or steel (products), you will be faced with new obligations in the areas of sustainability, traceability and product information. The law will come into effect in phases, with the concrete and steel industries being the first to be affected. What exactly will change? And how can you prepare yourself properly?

What is CPR-2024?

The CPR (Construction Products Regulation) determines when a CE marking is mandatory on construction products and which requirements you must meet. The new version, CPR-2024, places greater emphasis on sustainability, environmental performance and transparency. As a manufacturer, you must demonstrate how your product performs and what its environmental impact is. This information will be included in a new document: the DOPC (Declaration of Performance and Conformity). 

What exactly will change?

The following will soon apply to both steel and concrete (products): 

  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): you must perform (or have performed) a life cycle assessment in accordance with EN 15804, in which you calculate the environmental impact of your product over its entire life cycle. 
  •  DOPC mandatory: you must record the environmental data from the LCA in the mandatory DOPC. 
  •  Digital product passport: all product information, such as performance, environment and origin, must soon be available digitally via a digital product passport. 
  •  Validation by notified body: an external, recognized party must validate your data. 
  • Mandatory traceability: the origin and properties of your product must be demonstrable throughout the entire chain. 

When should you take action?

The phasing differs per product group and the exact date of entry into force depends on your product group. The effective date per product group is still shifting, but it is clear that the product groups prefab concrete and steel will be the first to fall under the new regulations.

Why is it wise to start now?

The entire industry must get started at the same time as the requirements apply to all manufacturers within your industry. This will soon put pressure on software, experts, and regulatory bodies. By starting now, you can avoid delays, have time to get everything in order, gain access to the right experts and increase your competitive advantage. 

Your first steps toward compliance

    Identify which products fall under CPR-2024

    Check for each product group whether the legislation applies and whether you need to make adjustments to documentation or processes.

    Collect technical and environmental data

    Make an inventory of the materials, production and transport data, energy consumption and emissions you need for the LCA. You can also count on our experts to help you compile the required technical and environmental data. This includes, for example, data needed for the LCA calculations of your products that fall under the CPR. We do this from, amongst others, our Expert Centre and Kiwa Nibe.

    Choose software or an LCA expert

    Decide whether you want to do this in-house or collaborate with a specialized party. There are several options available:
    -Specialized software like R<THINK. This certified LCA software was developed by Kiwa Nibe to enable you to perform LCA calculations for your products yourself.
    -Have the calculations prepared by our own LCA consultants if you do not have sufficient knowledge or capacity within your organization.
    -A combination of the above: support from our Expert Centre and Kiwa Nibe to perform the LCA calculations yourself in R<THINK.

    Draw up a DOPC for each product and have it validated

    Use the results of your LCA and have the DOPC validated by a notified body like Kiwa.
    In practice, this works as follows: you draw up a DOPC in R<THINK based on the data entered into the software. An independent part of Kiwa, Kiwa Ecobility Experts, can then validate this DOPC as a notified body.

    Consult with a notified body

    Contact Kiwa in advance so that we can plan the steps to be taken together with your organization and provide support in the process where necessary. We advise you to do this as early as possible, waiting times are expected to increase in the near future.

Preparing for the CPR-2024?

What exactly will change and what does that mean for you? We're here to guide you on how the legislation works and what you can do now.

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