FPC Certification – National Assessment System (NS) Construction Products

Definitions

The national system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance

The national system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance specifies activities of the manufacturer related to the assessment and verification of constancy of performance of a construction product. It defines the scope of assessment and verification carried out to the order of the manufacturer by a certification body or research laboratory accredited under the Act of April 13, 2016, on conformity assessment and market supervision systems.

National technical specification

National technical specification means a Polish Standard (not classified as “withdrawn”) or National Technical Assessment.

National Declaration

National Declaration is a declaration of performance, which provides information on the performance of a product regarding its essential characteristics in accordance with relevant national technical specifications. By drawing up the declaration, the manufacturer assumes responsibility for the compliance of the product with the declared performance and for the compliance with all applicable requirements regarding application of this marking. The template and content of the declaration are to be found in Attachment no. 2 of the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure and Construction dated November 17, 2016.

Factory Production Control (FPC)

FPC means the documented, permanent and internal control of production in a factory, in accordance with the relevant technical specifications.

National Certificate of Factory Production Control

National Certificate of Factory Production Control means a certificate issued by an approved certification body as necessary for drawing up a national declaration.

Construction Mark

The Construction Mark for each construction product covered by the national technical specification is the “Mark (B)”. It is the only mark confirming compliance of the product with its declared performance in relation to its essential characteristics covered by the national technical specification. The method of marking is specified in detail in the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure and Construction dated November 17, 2016.

Legal basis

Act of April 13, 2016, on the conformity assessment system and market surveillance

The Act specifies the rules of operation for the market surveillance system, including the construction products market, which includes:

• Inspecting products for compliance with requirements or assessment of risks posed by the products
• Proceedings related to non-conforming or dangerous products that have been placed on the market or put to use
• Inspection of products imported to the European Union within the scope of the Act

Act of April 16, 2004, on construction products

The Act sets out, a range of rules, including:

• Rules for placing construction products on the market or making them available on the Polish market
• Rules for controlling construction products placed on the market or made available on the market
• Competence of the authorities in the scope of performing administrative tasks and obligations resulting from the CPR Regulation

The amendment to the Act on construction products adopted in 2015 restored from January 1, 2017 – the obligation to mark construction products with a construction mark - B. This applies to products not covered by harmonized technical specifications or European technical assessments. A construction product marked with a construction mark (B) may be made available on the Polish market and used in the performance of construction works, as long as:

• The requirements of the Polish Standard not having the status of a withdrawn standard or a national technical assessment (KOT) are met
• The manufacturer has prepared for this product, on their sole responsibility, a national declaration of performance of the construction product (KDWU)

Due to these changes, all products placed on the domestic market are subject to legal regulations and the obligation to identify, mark and meet normative and legal requirements.

Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure, dated November 17, 2016, on method of declaring the performance of construction products and method of marking them with a construction products mark

The regulation specifies:

• The method of drawing up a declaration of performance for construction products
• National systems of assessment and verification of consistency of performance of construction products (referred to as the “national systems”)
• The groups of construction products for which a national declaration of performance should be drawn up and national systems of assessment and verification of consistency of performance of construction products appropriate for these groups
• The template and content of a national declaration of performance
• The method of providing a national declaration of performance to consumers of construction products

Our offer

We are a FPC certification body accredited by the Polish Centre of Accreditation (PCA) – No AC 152. We are authorized to carry out activities under the National System 2+ in relation to construction products. Here you can check our accreditation certificate with the scope, including product groups that it covers.

We are also authorized by the Minister of Infrastructure and Development and notified to the European Commission and the Member States (NoBo 2525) to carry out third-party AvoCP tasks arising from the CPR.

Tasks within the 2+ National Assessment System

In the 2+ National Assessment System, participation of a notified body is required to carry out FPC certification.

The manufacturer of a construction product shall:

• Determine the type of the construction product
• Assess the performance of the product on the basis of tests carried out on samples taken by the manufacturer, calculations, tabulated values or descriptive documentation of that product
• Carry out factory production control
• Test samples taken at the manufacturing plant by the manufacturer in accordance with the prescribed test plan

The authorized certification body shall decide on the issuing of the national factory production control certificate based on:

• Initial inspection of the manufacturing plant and FPC
• Continuing surveillance, assessment and evaluation of FPC

The certificate of conformity of the FPC is issued without time limit and will remain valid as long as the requirements of the national technical specification, conditions of manufacturing and the system itself are not modified significantly. Surveillance inspection of the certificate is conducted annually.

Contact us today to find out more about our FPC certification services.