CE marking update
CE marking for bituminous binders moved a step closer with the citation in the Official Journal of the EU of the harmonised standards for paving grade bitumen (EN12591), hard paving grade bitumen (EN 13924), bituminous emulsions (EN 13808) and cutback and fluxed bitumens (EN15322).
The citation starts the clock for implementation of the standards into national legislation by establishing the dates for coexistence and subsequent withdrawal of conflicting National Standards.
The coexistence period commenced on 1st January 2010 (1st June 2010 for EN 15322), permitting voluntary CE marking as soon as the producers’ factory production control system has been certified by a notified body. CE marking will become compulsory from 1st January 2011 (1st June 2011 for EN 15322).
EN14023 has been approved via the Unique Acceptance Procedure (UAP) and is awaiting ratification by the CEN Management Centre (CMC). Once this has taken place it too will be cited in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) and the Date of Applicability (DApp) will be set for 01/012011, thereby permitting voluntary CE marking thereafter.
The actual detail of how and when CE marking can start is somewhat bureaucratic and involves the, so called, notified bodies (NoBos) applying to the European Commission to become certification bodies for specific standards. When they are approved they are listed on the Commission website for such bodies: European Commission Enterprise and Industry.
