Product certifications

Product certifications

Product certifications can be divided into two different categories, product certification for CE marking or so-called voluntary product certification. The latter is for companies that only provide a service for a CE marked product. In this case, the company does not own the product and therefore cannot naturally affix the CE marking to the product.

Product certification for CE marking

Regulation (305/2011) adopted by the European Parliament and the Council requires CE marking when a product falls within the scope of a harmonised standard.

For example, standards EN 1090-1 and EN 13084-7 are harmonised (the standard has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union) and products within the scope of these standards are required to have a Declaration of Performance (DOP) and CE marking when placed on the market in Finland or other EU countries.

The affixing of the CE marking in accordance with these standards is subject to approval and surveillance (certification) of the factory and the internal quality control system by a notified body.

The certificate of the factory's internal quality control system requires:

- The company has an operational, written description of the Factory Production Control (FPC) in accordance with the relevant standard.

- The company has implemented an FPC system

- The notified body has assessed the performance of the company's factory and FPC system against the requirements of the relevant standards.

Before placing a product on the market, the company must draw up a Declaration of Performance (DoP) and affix the CE marking to the product. "The CE marking must be affixed to the construction product or to a label attached to it in a visible, legible and indelible manner. Where this is not possible or justified by the nature of the product, it shall be affixed to the packaging or accompanying documents." (CPR Article 9)

Voluntary product certification

Voluntary product certification may be typical for companies that perform surface treatment (wet painting or galvanizing), for example. In practice, the certification process is similar to that leading to CE marking.

EN 1090-2 voluntary product certification:

Voluntary product certification is intended for companies that only provide a service, for example for a CE-marked product. In this case, the company does not own the product (and therefore cannot, of course, affix the CE marking to the product).

Surface treatment

Voluntary product certification can be granted to companies that carry out surface treatment (e.g. wet painting or galvanising). Such an audit will take into account EN 1090-1 clause 6.3, where applicable, i.e. the structural design process or assembly specification will not be assessed.

In addition to EN 1090-1, clause 6.3, the requirements of EN 1090-2 (or EN 1090-3, -4, -5, which are quite rare) for the process in question are assessed. For the surface treatment, EN 1090-2 section 10 and its associated Annex F are relevant.

Thermal cutting

Thermal cutting is one of the EN 1090-2 processes. Please note that voluntary product certification does not lead to CE marking, so a company with voluntary product certification is not allowed to supply cuts within the scope of EN 1090-1 (via the CE marking requirement) directly to the site. Certification leading to CE marking is in practice a similar process to voluntary product certification, so companies supplying CE marked clips should be certified according to EN 1090-1, not EN 1090-2.