The Construction Products Directive (CPD) of 1989 established a common framework across the entire European Union to ensure the integrity of buildings and construction works.
From 1st July 2014, under the CPD, it became a legal requirement for companies involved in the manufacture or supply of fabricated steel products to comply with BS EN 1090 and ensure their products are correctly CE marked. This is because fabricated steel products are deemed to be “safety critical”.
In January 2021, following Brexit, the UKCA mark was introduced. Any structural metalwork placed on the UK market of Great Britain (comprising England, Scotland and Wales) must have the UKCA mark added to it to demonstrate compliance with the manufacturing standard.
What is BS EN 1090?
BS EN 1090 is the harmonised European standard designed to improve the UK’s fabrication and assembly of steel and aluminium structures. It is made up of three parts:
EN 1090-1: CE Marking- details the requirements for assessing and verifying product or service conformity
EN 1090-2: Details the technical requirements in the manufacture and assembly of steel structures
EN 1090-3: Details the technical requirements in the manufacture and assembly of aluminium structures
What are the Execution Classes?
Products created typically fall into one of four classes:
Class 1 covers structures with the least risk to life, such as agricultural buildings where people do not normally enter, low-use storage areas, etc.
Class 2 is the most common execution class and includes buildings between 2 and 15 floors; general residential and commercial properties fall into this category.
Class 3 covers structures and buildings with more than 15 floors, including bridges and crane tracks.
Class 4 is the highest risk; this covers things like sliding roofs at large stadiums, where failure could result in catastrophic consequences.
Why is it important?
The requirements of the standard ensure complete traceability, compliance and verification throughout the manufacturing process, ensuring that all aspects of manufacturing comply with the standards. The BS EN 1090 standard broadly covers:
- Material certification and correct storage
- Staff training, testing and qualification
- Equipment set up and calibration
- Consumable certification and control
- Quality control and testing of products
- Control of documents and records
- Auditing
- Product identification/ marking
- Control of non-conforming products
How do you make sure you have complied?
To comply with BS EN 1090, you must have a Factory Production Control (FPC). An FPC system states how the company manages everything from initial contact with the customer to final quality inspection before being shipped out, including:
- Implementation of FPC system procedures
- Appointment of a responsible welding coordinator (RWC)
- Implementation of the welding quality management system (WQMS)
- Testing of samples taken at the factory, which adhere to the prescribed test plan
The company and FPC must then be inspected by a third-party Notified Body (NB) inspection company. The notified body must be accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Welding competence
One of the key standards within BS EN 1090 is to ensure welder competence. All welders must be fully qualified by passing their welder approval test certificates for the type of welding being carried out and in accordance with BS EN 9606-1. Approval must be obtained from an external test body that will issue a welder qualification test certificate, valid for a maximum of three years. Welders are also subject to 6-monthly checks to ensure their welds continue to meet the required standard.
D&M Design & Fabrication Ltd and BS EN 1090 Certification
We achieved BS EN 1090 certification in March 2020, for Execution Class 2. We were certified to Execution Class 3 in November 2023. Our certificate was provided by Alcumus ISOQAR, a UKAS-accredited certification body.
This enables us to fabricate projects for residential blocks, commercial properties, agricultural properties and buildings with more than 15 floors as well as bridges, crane tracks and many other projects (within the UK market).
Working to the BS EN 1090 standard also allows us to have much better control over our internal processes and enables us to provide high-quality products to our customers.
Our experienced team members work hard to ensure standards are always high, no matter the task. If you think this might benefit your upcoming project or want to know more about our high standards and quality of work, call us on 01765 522 222 or email us.
