Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products^f1, as amended by Directive 93/68/EEC^f2, and in particular Article 20(2)(a) thereof,

Whereas:

Article 3(2) of Directive 89/106/EEC states that in order to take account of different levels of protection for the construction works that may prevail at national, regional or local levels, each essential requirement may give rise to the establishment of classes in the interpretative documents. These documents have been published as the ‘Communication of the Commission with regard to the interpretative documents of Directive 89/106/EEC’^f3.

Paragraph 2.2 of interpretative document No 2 lists a number of interrelated measures for the satisfaction of the essential requirement ‘Safety in case of fire’ that together contribute to define the fire safety strategy that can be developed in different ways in Member States.

Paragraph 4.2.1 of interpretative document No 2 justifies the need for different levels of the essential requirement as function of the type, use and location of the construction work, its layout and the availability of the emergency facilities.

Paragraph 4.3.1.2.2 of interpretative document No 2 identifies the requirements for construction products for roofs exposed to an external fire.

The different levels of these requirements existing in the Member States may be expressed in a system of classes that are not included in interpretative document No 2.

Article 6(3) of Directive 89/106/EEC states that the Member States may determine the performance levels to be observed in their territory only within the classifications adopted at Community level and only subject to the use of all or some classes or one class.

In the absence of a single, fully harmonised test method, the classification used in this Decision should be based upon one standard which incorporates three distinct test methods that respond to different fire hazard scenarios. This is considered to be an interim solution until full harmonisation can be achieved through the development of a fully harmonised test method. Once the latter is achieved, this Decision could be amended to take account of the new test method and its associated classifications.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Construction,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: