CE Marking of Bricks in Malta is a requirement that will now start to be enforced. In this blog, I wanted to share with you some critical considerations for you to comply with these requirements.
Once you comply to the following requirements you can affix the CE Marking logo on the product, or documents accompanying the product like the delivery note.
What is CE Marking of Bricks in Malta?
CE marking is a self-declaration that the products being produced comply with applicable requirements. The CE (Conformite Europeenne, French for European Conformity) ensures a standard level of Quality throughout Countries within the European Economic Area (EEA).
CE Marking for bricks is done based on EN 771-3:2011 +A1:2015. In a nutshell, this is what CE Marking for bricks relates to:
- Compliance with the respective standard for the production of hollow concrete blocks (bricks)
- Performance declaration issued by the manufacturer, to state several critical performance characteristics of the products produced
- A Quality control system to ensure consistent product quality
- Meeting the legal requirement to place construction materials into the market of a country within the EEA.
- Assurance to consumers about the quality of the product they are purchasing.
- While CE is marking a requirement for manufacturers within EEA countries; invariably this leads to a global recognition of the product being manufactured by the respective entity
Getting your Bricks CE Marked in Malta
For a company to successfully be legally allowed to place the CE Marking on their product, several actions must be taken by the respective entity.
Hereunder, I will be giving you an overview of such requirements.
Product Declaration
The starting point of CE Marking for bricks in Malta is to create a product declaration of performance. Once created, this will be public information; here’s an example.
Contrary to tests being done by laboratories, the product declaration has to have some basic information like:
- name of product
- intended use
- address or manufacturer
- standard being followed
- notified body
- declared performance
Once created, this document has to be endorsed by the top management of the manufacturer. This includes information like the dimensions, the compressive strength, and other information. This is a new requirement for CE Marking.
Specifications for controls
Annex ZA within the EN 773 standards states the essential characteristics are important for hollow concrete blocks (a.k.a bricks). These characteristics are;
- dimensions
- configuration
- compressive strength
- dimensional stability
- bond strength
- reaction to fire
- water absorption
- water vapor permeability
- direct airborne sound insulation
- thermal resistance
- durability against freeze/thaw
- dangerous substances
When working on your CE Marking for bricks in Malta, you should consider any of the above that are deemed necessary by your customers. For each of the above that you decide to include, you will need to have accurate results.
