SIST-TP CEN/TR 16496:2013

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST-TP CEN/TR 16496:2013
01-december-2013
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Construction Products - Assessment of release of dangerous substances - Use of
harmonised horizontal assessment methods
Bauprodukte - Bewertung der Freisetzung von gefährlichen Stoffen - Verwendung
harmonisierter horizontaler Bewertungsmethoden
Produits de construction - Évaluation de l'émission de substances dangereuses -
Utilisation de méthodes d'évaluation horizontales harmonisées
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 16496:2013
ICS:
13.020.99 Drugi standardi v zvezi z Other standards related to
varstvom okolja environmental protection
91.100.01 Gradbeni materiali na Construction materials in
splošno general
SIST-TP CEN/TR 16496:2013 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST-TP CEN/TR 16496:2013


TECHNICAL REPORT
CEN/TR 16496

RAPPORT TECHNIQUE

TECHNISCHER BERICHT
October 2013
ICS 91.100.01
English Version
Construction Products - Assessment of release of dangerous
substances - Use of harmonised horizontal assessment
methods
Produits de construction - Évaluation de l'émission de Bauprodukte - Bewertung der Freisetzung von gefährlichen
substances dangereuses - Utilisation de méthodes Stoffen - Verwendung harmonisierter horizontaler
d'évaluation horizontales harmonisées Bewertungsmethoden


This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 23 March 2013. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 351.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United
Kingdom.





EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2013 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 16496:2013: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

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Contents Page
Foreword .3
1 Introduction .4
1.1 General .4
1.2 Mandate amendment for BRCW 3 and the product TC’s answer .5
1.3 FAQs on mandate amendments for dangerous substances .6
2 Harmonised horizontal test methods for the assessment of the release of
regulated dangerous substances and the possibilities and limitations of their use .8
2.1 Release into soil, groundwater and surface water .8
2.2 Emission into indoor air .9
2.3 Radiation from construction products . 10
2.4 Content of regulated dangerous substances and analysis of eluates . 11
3 Integration of harmonised horizontal test methods into harmonised Technical
Specifications (hEN and EADs) – Issues for product TCs and EOTA . 12
3.1 General issues . 12
3.2 Issues specific for release into soil, groundwater and surface water . 13
3.3 Issues specific for emissions into indoor air . 14
3.4 Issues specific to gamma radiation from construction products . 16
3.5 Issues specific for content of regulated dangerous substances (only when legally
required or deemed practicable) . 18
4 Implementation of the system of Assessment and Verification of Constancy of
Performance (AVCP) prescribed by the European Commission (COM) and the
Standing Committee on Construction (SCC) for BRCW 3 in the harmonised
product standard (hEN) . 18
4.1 General . 18
4.2 Responsibility of manufacturer and notified body (NB) . 19
4.3 Use of NPD option for BRCW 3 . 19
5 CE-marking . 20
Annex A (informative) Example of a possible application of a CEN/TC 351 test method in a
hEN for a generic product in an intended use with contact with soil, groundwater
or surface water . 21
Annex B (informative) Example of a possible application of a CEN/TC 351 test method in a
i
hEN for a generic flooring product in an intended use with contact with indoor air . 27
Bibliography . 34

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Foreword
This document (CEN/TR 16496:2013) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 351
“Construction products - Assessment of release of dangerous substances”, the secretariat of which is
held by NEN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such
patent rights.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and
the European Free Trade Association.
This Technical Report gives guidance for the selection and integration of the recommended horizontal
product testing protocols on dangerous substances harmonised by CEN/TC 351 into hENs and EADs.
Since the work in CEN/TC 351 in cooperation with the European Commission and its Expert Group on
Dangerous Substances (EGDS) and the product TCs is a work in progress, some subjects and issues
remain open for the time being. However, the results of the work of CEN/TC 351 are now mature
enough for practical implementation in product standards and EADs.
This document takes into account relevant information that had become available by March 2013
through the activities in the working groups and task groups of CEN/TC 351 as well as the guidance
provided by the European Commission.
This document is intended as easy-to-use guidance especially for product TCs and EOTA Working
Groups (or equivalent groups under the Construction Products Regulation). Where reference is made
to ‘Product TCs’, EOTA WGs are also meant where appropriate.
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1 Introduction
1.1 General
The Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC (CPD) contained six essential requirements for
works that gave rise to a number of 'essential characteristics' for products that had to be covered by
European Technical Specifications (ETS) for construction products (harmonised European Standards
(CEN) and European Technical Approvals (EOTA)). As derogation from this rule, essential
requirement No 3 “Hygiene, health and the environment” (ER3) was dealt with via a convention in the
ETS which did not take it directly into account, mainly due to the absence of European harmonised
test methods. In order to solve this problem, the European Commission gave CEN, the European
Committee for Standardization, a mandate (M/366) in 2005 to develop European harmonised test
methods for the assessment of release or emission of dangerous substances from construction
products.
From July 2013 the CPD has been replaced by the Construction Products Regulation (Regulation (EU)
No 305/2011, CPR). The fundamental principles of the CPR are the same as for the CPD. The CPR
now refers to basic requirements for construction works (BRCWs) instead of ERs, but the same six
functional requirements as for the CPD are still there, supplemented by a seventh, the “Sustainable
use of natural resources”, and BRCW 3 is extended to the construction and demolition phase.
However, it is expected that the work in CEN/TC 351 according to mandate M/366 will be carried out
under the terms and conditions of the CPD with a focus on release and emission in the use phase of
construction works.
Mandate M/366 requires that CEN develops horizontal test methods that, as far as possible, are based
on existing test methods. This means that European harmonised test methods will not be developed
for each construction product separately. The methods should be preferably applicable to all
constructions products as defined in the CPR as far as they are covered by BRCW 3. The intention is
to avoid the unnecessary and onerous development of product specific test standards for a multitude
of construction products and to minimise the amount of costly testing. The horizontal approach is
described in detail in CEN/TR 16098.
Furthermore, according to the guidance of the EC (Decision 192, CEN/TC 351 meeting in Berlin on
2013-02-11/12), CEN/TC 351 is asked to provide horizontal methods reflecting the state of the art.
Different test methods or testing options can be considered by CEN/TC 351 when technically justified
because of different conditions of use, different end uses or product characteristics, but not because of
differences in regulations.
In order to apply the horizontal test methods correctly to individual construction products, some
product specific additions remain necessary. For example, aspects such as pre-treatment and
preconditioning of test specimens cannot be completely specified horizontally but require product
specific additions. The necessary product specific additions to the horizontal test standards must be
included in the harmonised product standards for the implementation of BRCW 3.
The European Commission has recently amended ten and is currently amending some further existing
construction product mandates issued to CEN to include detailed requirements for BRCW 3. The
updated mandates include the requirements for each harmonised product standard. For each hEN or
mandated prEN, the relevant release/emission scenarios and the relevant regulated dangerous
1)
substances are listed. The CEN product TCs are obliged to amend their product standards using the
mandate amendments as a checklist for including BRCW 3-related requirements.
This Technical Report (TR4 of mandate M/366) gives instructions on which aspects related to the
horizontal test methods are important to address when amending product standards. The report is
intended as guidance for CEN product TCs for the revision of product standards in regard to
dangerous substances. The report focuses on the use of the harmonised test standards. The

1) The term regulated dangerous substances refers to dangerous substances for which performance criteria
have been defined in notified regulations in the EEA.
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possibilities to avoid testing through the use of e.g. descriptive elements like positive or negative lists
in product standards are not covered by this report. With respect to this issue, the product TCs may
consult the guidance given by the European Commission including the amended product mandates.
The examples described in Annex A and Annex B show how the guidance given in this Technical
Report can be adopted in a product standard. They illustrate a possible way to implement the
horizontal test standards of CEN/TC 351 into product standards by product TCs. The examples are
inspired by work in progress on existing harmonised product standards. Their intention is to provide
generic, non-product specific assistance; they are not the only possible solution confirmed by the
powers that be.
1.2 Mandate amendment for BRCW 3 and the product TC’s answer
The European Commission describes in the amendments to the various product mandates for
dangerous substances the tasks the product TCs are expected to carry out, when preparing an
answer to the mandate amendment. Hereunder, as an example, the relevant text from mandate
2)
M/103 rev.1 on Thermal Insulation Products is cited the specifications in the other amendments are
comparable.
Description of the mandated work
The attached annex provides an overview on national notified regulatory requirements that have been
linked by several experts of the Commission’s expert group on dangerous substances to products
covered under mandate M/103.
CEN/TC 88 has to assess the list and to take it completely into consideration when describing and
justifying its selection of substances and their relevance in its work programme, in particular on the
following aspects:
− If these substances may be present in products covered by mandate M/103 and in all existing
harmonised product standards or harmonised product standards under development;
− If these substances are likely to emit from the above mentioned products and if these emissions
6)
are close to existing limit values in regulations referred to in this document ;
− If there is available data, particularly where the above mentioned products have been tested in the
7)
past on either content or emission of these substances by national authorities/bodies .
NOTE The work programme of the product TC will be used for further discussion in the EGDS between the
Commission, national experts and experts of the product TC and CEN/TC 351.
CEN has to provide in existing harmonised product standards or harmonised product standards under
development either
8)
− clear and transparent definitions of products that will make further requirements for testing for
dangerous substances obsolete or/and
− a set of clear and transparent requirements for products which will be laid down in product
standards for these specific product families or relevant sub-families.
Execution of the mandate
The standards resulting from this amended mandate will have to be delivered by no later than 12
months after the adoption of technical specifications developed under the mandate M/366.

2) See: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/standards_policy/mandates/database/index.cfm?fuseaction=
search.detail&id=455#
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After formal acceptance of the mandate, CEN will present to the Commission within 2 months a
detailed proposal for the Work Programme. Having regard to the scope of this mandate this Work
Programme will include
− a selection and clear indication of substances and materials indicated in the annexes of this
mandate which are considered as relevant in products covered by mandate M/103, or a justification
for excluding substances or materials of the attached annex from standardization work in the
relevant product TC;
− a list of all product standards considered to require declaration categories for the potential release
or content of regulated dangerous substances to enable fulfilment of regulatory requirements;
− the timetable for the development and the publication of each amended standard; if not all
regulated dangerous substances can be dealt with in one phase or generation of the standard, it
should be explained how and when to handle the other substances and which steps still need to be
taken.
6)
The possibility of excluding products, components or substances from testing will be dealt with in detail in
another document describing a system of defining products “Without Testing” or “Without Further Testing”.

7)
If products have not been subject to testing for dangerous substances (or specific substances now mentioned in
this document have not been assessed in the past), it will be helpful to assess the priority given by regulators or
the lack of useful technical instruments for the assessment, but does not necessarily indicate that Member State
authorities might not insist on these specific requirements during the development of a standard or after it has
been finalised. Therefore, each substance should be assessed carefully by the TC and in case of doubt
clarification should be requested from the Commission.

8)
If necessary with regard to materials, constituents, admixtures, etc.

1.3 FAQs on mandate amendments for dangerous substances
These questions on mandate amendments were posed in the CEN/TC 351/TG2 workshop on 8 March
2011 by the representatives of product TCs. The answers have been provided by the Commission
Services and updated afterwards to reflect the position in June 2012.
1. Can a product TC incorporate the forthcoming TS test methods from CEN/TC 351 into its
harmonised product standard(s) or should the product TC wait until a fully validated EN test
method from CEN/TC 351 is available?
The mandate amendments ask for the technical specifications of CEN/TC 351 to be incorporated
within one year of their availability (i.e. until end of 2014 at the latest according to the current time
table of CEN/TC 351). All product TCs with relevant mandate amendments are expected to
incorporate the TS test methods into their hEN, where relevant, after acceptance by the European
Commission of the work programme to the mandate amendment. The TS test methods can first
be added to the voluntary part of the standard if the product TC wishes to wait for fully validated
EN test methods before incorporating clauses on the new test methods into Annex ZA.
Conversely, the product TC may incorporate clauses into Annex ZA which directly refer to the
TS methods, if it wishes to do so.
If the fully validated EN test methods of CEN/TC 351 should not become available until the
second half of 2016, the TS methods are considered established enough to be called up by
Annex ZAs as a mandatory basis for declaring the performance of a product in regard to
dangerous substances. This deadline is intended to ensure that a potential delay of the full
validation of the CEN/TC 351 test methods does not further delay the implementation of the
mandate amendments. As soon as the EN test methods become available, they must be used.
For the change from TS to EN test method in a hEN product standard, a corrigendum is adequate
and a full revision of the hEN is not necessary.
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2. Which system of attestation of conformity/assessment and verification of constancy of
performance will be applied to BRCW 3?
The AoC/AVCP system(s) will remain the same as in the original product mandate. Member
States may ask the Commission to introduce another AoC/AVCP system via a Commission
Decision (legal act). So far such requests have not been made.
3. When will notified bodies become available for the new test methods for dangerous
substances?
A sector group for dangerous substances has been set up in the Group of Notified Bodies. It is
expected that member states will be able to nominate notified bodies for the new test methods as
soon as they are available as CEN/TS (from end of 2013). According to Annex V of the CPR a
reference to a harmonised product standard is not necessary when nominating notified bodies for
horizontal characteristics such as dangerous substances.
4. What should the product TC do, when new national regulations for dangerous substances
concerning its products emerge after the TC has received its mandate amendment?
The product TC may deal with any additional requirement in its draft answer (work programme) to
the mandate amendment. Furthermore, a product TC could inform the Commission about new
national requirements that come to its attention at a later stage. However, the product TC is not
obliged to take any new requirements into account formally before the Commission Services have
revised the mandate amendment for dangerous substances accordingly.
5. Is it foreseen that a TC may create its own classes or levels for the declaration of test results
according to the new CEN/TC 351 methods?
For the performance declaration of emissions into indoor air the Commission Services have
already provided a framework for classification, which is expected to be finalised in the course of
2013. A supporting activity is currently being carried out by the DG JRC with the aim of providing
harmonised reference values for VOC emissions from construction products (so called Lowest
Concentrations of Interest, LCI). As soon as the harmonised LCI become available, they will form
the basis for the classification of emission performance within the technical framework provided by
the DG ENTR Construction Unit. For release into soil and water, the possibility of creating
horizontal declaration formats is currently being scrutinised by the Commission. The classes of
convenience for indoor air or other declaration formats of convenience for release into soil and
water that reflect the relevant national requirements are a possible future addition to the horizontal
tool kit provided by CEN/TC 351, which may become available e.g. as informative annexes in the
CEN/TS or EN test methods. If a product TC has identified the need for specific classes or levels,
it should contact the European Commission for further guidance and a decision.
6. The scope of BRCW 3 (under the CPR) is wider than the scope of ER 3 (under the CPD). Has
this been taken into consideration in the amendments of the product mandates? If not, how
should a product TC address any additional requirements under BRCW 3?
The amendments of the product mandates are based on the requirements under the CPD and
each product TC is expected to start work under the framework of the CPD. The Commission (with
the input of the EGDS) will assess in the course of 2013 if there is any need for additional testing
under BRCW 3 for each product group. Only if the Commission concludes that additional
requirements have to be fulfilled, the relevant product mandates will be amended, which would
require additional work within specific product TCs. In this case, the methods developed for
assessment of the in use phase by CEN/TC 351 may also be suitable to assess other phases of
the life cycle, if considered necessary.
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2 Harmonised horizontal test methods for the assessment of the release of
regulated dangerous substances and the possibilities and limitations of
their use
2.1 Release into soil, groundwater and surface water
2.1.1 Horizontal test methods
CEN/TC 351/WG 1 has drafted two generic horizontal testing standards for release of substances: a
dynamic surface leaching test (DSLT) for leaching from monolithic, plate-like or sheet-like construction
products (WI 00351009, prCEN/TS 16637-2) and an up-flow percolation test for the release of
substances from granular construction products (WI 00351010, expected as prCEN/TS 16637-3).
In early 2013, the technical work on prCEN/TS 16637-2 was completed and this draft standard
submitted for TC Approval. It is foreseen to be published as a Technical Specification at the beginning
of 2014. It then will be subject to round robin validation. In March 2013, prCEN/TS 16637-3 was still
3)
under development.
In addition, CEN/TC 351/WG 1 is drafting a Technical Specification for CEN Product TCs and EOTA
experts for selection of the appropriate release tests for their product(s) (WI 00351008,
prCEN/TS 16637-1). PrCEN/TS 16637-1 gives background information on release scenarios and
specific influencing factors. The general part of this Technical Specification and its content regarding
prCEN/TS 16637-2 have been completed, including robustness validation, and submitted for TC
Approval. Once prCEN/TS 16637-3 becomes available, prCEN/TS 16637-1 will be updated with the
remaining part and the revision will be submitted for TC Approval.
PrCEN/TS 16637-2 (DSLT) determines the surface dependent leaching behaviour of monolithic or
plate-like or sheet-like construction products under dynamic conditions (as a function of time). The test
(DSLT) produces eluates, which can subsequently be characterised by physical, chemical and
ecotoxicological methods. Organic coatings for metals are not included in the scope of the DSLT, but
the validation work may lead to modifications and additional scope for use of the method. Metals and
metallic coatings are so far excluded from the scope and this Technical Report (CEN/TR 16496)
4)
A special case of the DSLT is a test for
cannot therefore provide any guidance on this subject.
“Granular construction products with Low Hydraulic Conductivity" (GLHC). The test for GLHC is
specified in an Annex of prCEN/TS 16637-2.
The prCEN/TS 16637-3 (up-flow percolation test) determines the leaching behaviour of non-volatile
inorganic and organic substances from granular construction products (with or without size reduction).
Granular construction products are subjected to percolation with water as a function of liquid to solid
ratio under specified percolation conditions. The resulting eluates can subsequently be characterised
by physical, chemical and ecotoxicological methods. Results are presented as a function of the liquid
to solid ratio. The test is not suitable for substances that are volatile under ambient conditions.
These test procedures can be used for assessing release from construction products in different
release scenarios. To compare test results expressed e.g. as concentrations in eluates with regulatory
requirements expressed e.g. as concentrations in soil or groundwater under construction works, a
modelling step is necessary. This modelling step may be different in different regulations and is not
covered in the CEN/TC 351 test methods. Therefore, the test results are unlikely to be directly
comparable to limit values. However, it is expected that the national regulations will evolve to express
criteria which accord with the CEN/TC 351 methods.

3) Details on the availability of the standards and reports of CEN/TC 351 can be found in the CEN/TC 351
secretary's report which is updated regularly (latest version N0465. 2013-01-10).
4) Guidance could be offered if the regulatory requirements linked to BRCW 3 make it necessary. So far, no
European or notified national provisions that require the determination of the leaching performance of metal
products have been identified. CEN/TC 351/WG 1 has not yet harmonised any test methods for metals and
metallic coatings, because mandate M/366 covers only test methods required by existing regulations.
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In prCEN/TS 16637-2 and prCEN/TS 16637-3 all aspects for determining release from construction
products are specified. These cover:
a) general aspects of taking laboratory samples for testing;
b) general aspects of preparing test specimens from the laboratory sample;
c) general aspects of equipment and apparatus;
d) general aspects of the leaching procedure (e.g. type of leachant, temperature, L/A ratio; collection
of eluates and total duration of the test);
e) expression of test results and calculation of release;
f) general aspects of taking product laboratory samples for testing;
g) general aspects of making test specimens from the laboratory sample.
The methods for the analysis of eluates are under development in CEN/TC 351 WG 5 (see 2.4).
2.1.2 Implementation of TSs in harmonised technical specifications
It is foreseen that all relevant harmonised Technical Specifications (hEN and EADs) specify the most
appropriate of the two test methods according to the rules given in prCEN/TS 16637-1 and then
provide product-specific detail such as:
a) taking product laboratory samples for testing;
b) making test specimens from the laboratory sample.
2.2 Emission into indoor air
2.2.1 Horizontal test method
CEN/TC 351/WG 2 has drafted a harmonised horizontal test method for emission into indoor air
(CEN/TS 16516). This method has gone through robustness validation an
...