CE Marking

Product compliance with EU legislation

CE marking is a key indicator of a product’s compliance with EU legislation and enables the free movement of products within the European market. By affixing CE marking on a product, a manufacturer is declaring, on his sole responsibility, conformity with all the legal requirements to achieve CE marking and therefore ensuring validity for that product to be sold throughout the EEA, the 27 member states of the EU and European Free Trade Association countries - Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Turkey. This also applies to products made in third countries which are sold in the EEA and Turkey.

CE marking does not indicate that a product was made in the European Economic Area (EEA), but merely states that the product is assessed against essential requirements before being placed on the market.

The EU Construction Products Regulation requires manufacturers of products covered by a harmonised standard, and manufacturers who have obtained a European Technical Assessment for their product, to draw up a Declaration of Performance (DoP). These manufacturers are required to take on the responsibility for the assessment of their products and for the conformity of their products with the declared performances (these are shown in the declaration of performance). They also need to show that they have done this by providing CE marking, unless a derogation under Article 5 is applied.

It is the manufacturer’s responsibility to:

• Carry out the conformity assessment
• Set up the technical file
• Issue the EC Declaration of Conformity (DoC) or Declaration of Performance (DoP)             
• Affix CE marking on a product 

Distributors must verify the presence of both the CE marking and the necessary supporting documentation. If the product is being imported from a third country, the importer must verify that the manufacturer outside the EU has undertaken the necessary steps and that the documentation is available upon request.

Guidelines

The CE mark is covered by Council Decision 93/465/EC. Annex B(d) gives these guidelines:

1. The CE conformity marking must consist of the initials 'CE' taking the following form:
   If the CE conformity marking is reduced or enlarged the proportions given in the above graduated drawing must be respected.
2. Where the directive concerned does not impose specific dimensions, the CE marking must have a height of at least 5 mm.
3. The CE marking must be affixed to the product or to its data plate. However, where this is not possible or not warranted on account of the nature of the product, it must be affixed to the packaging, if any, and to the accompanying documents, where the directive concerned provides for such documents.
4. The CE marking must be affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly.

Useful Links

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-marking

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/european-standards/harmonised-standards/construction-products_en

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/construction/product-regulation/faq_en