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 laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products^f1, and in particular Article 13(4) thereof,

Whereas:

Regarding the two procedures for attesting the conformity of a product under Article 13(3) of Directive 89/106/EEC, the Commission is required to select the least onerous possible procedure consistent with safety. This means that it is necessary to decide whether, for a given product or family of products, the existence of a factory production control system under the responsibility of the manufacturer is a necessary and sufficient condition for an attestation of conformity, or whether, for reasons related to compliance with the criteria mentioned in Article 13(4) of Directive 89/106/EEC, the intervention of an approved certification body is required.

Article 13(4) of Directive 89/106/EEC requires that the procedure thus determined must be indicated in the mandates and in the technical specifications. It is therefore desirable to define the concept of products or family of products as used in the mandates and in the technical specifications.

The two procedures provided for in Article 13(3) of Directive 89/106/EEC are described in detail in Annex III to that Directive. It is necessary therefore to specify clearly the methods by which the two procedures shall be implemented, by reference to Annex III, for each product or family of products, since Annex III gives preference to certain systems.

The procedure referred to in Article 13(3)(a) of Directive 89/106/EEC corresponds to the systems set out in the first possibility, without continuous surveillance, and the second and third possibilities of point (ii) of Section 2 of Annex III to Directive 89/106/EEC. The procedure referred to in Article 13(3)(b) corresponds to the systems set out in point (i) of Section 2 of Annex III, and in the first possibility, with continuous surveillance, of point (ii) of Section 2 of Annex III.

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

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