The Construction Products Directive
The Construction Products Directive (CPD) is one of the 'New Approach' directives that aim to create a single European market by removing the technical barriers to trade between Member States through the use of harmonized standards and approvals.
The directive applies to all construction products that are produced for, or incorporated within, building and civil engineering construction works. It harmonizes all construction products subject to regulatory controls for CE marking purposes.
The CPD is a product specific set of standards, so rather than a generic risk assessment based standard applying to all machinery, each product has its own set of specific standards. Out of the 21 New Approach Directives that call for CE marking, 5 apply to roller shutters. To comply with a New Approach Directive you must satisfy the 'essential requirements' of the Directive. Third party testing, standards and risk assessments are methods by which compliance is achieved.
To comply with BSEN 13241-1 and its supporting standards under the CPD, all doorway shutters require an anti-fall back device when the maximum out-of-balance static force exceeds 200 newtons after a single suspension component failure (the newton is the unit of force. One newton is the force required to give a mass of 1 kilogram an acceleration of 1 metre per second per second). Where applicable, roller shutters from VBS UK will be fitted with either a safety spring or a safety brake.
Security roller shutters supplied and installed by VBS UK comply with the Construction Products Directive.
