Without a doubt, it is a generalised process. There are voluntary product marks, but others, such as the CE Marking, are mandatory. Community legislation seeks harmonisation, and today, many essential products like machines, medical devices or construction products must have CE marking.
European regulations seek standardisation of all products, in all areas, to facilitate the single market and the free movement of merchandises. Today, construction products, health products, machinery, cosmetics, or food must comply with European regulations and directives.
The central notified bodies for certifying management systems, products and services (Aenor, Applus, Bureau Veritas Certification, BSI, SGS, among others) have voluntary product certifications that many times are quality marks recognised by governs and administrations.
The CE marking identifies products that comply with the harmonised legislation of the European Union. The CE marking is not found on a product if a European directive does not cover it.
Products with CE marking satisfy a harmonised standard’s requirements, regulating their use and essential characteristics, although there are exceptions. Some products do not have a harmonised standard and, to be CE marked, they have passed a European Technical Assessment (ETA).
CE marking is mandatory and applicable for all products marketed in the European Union, even if a third country did it. Manufacturers take responsibility for the conformity of their products with European legislation.
Entities such as Aenor, Applus or Bureau Veritas have developed specific technical regulations to establish the requirements that the products covered by their brand must satisfy (The Applus+ mark, the AENOR N Mark, BSI Kitemark, among others).
These brands are not mandatory but establish quality standards generally higher than the required by law.
In some cases, product brands are recognised by governs and administrations and allow compliance with regulatory standards (e.g. N Mark for structural concrete (EHE-08) or the Instruction for the reception of cement (RC-16)).
The best option to answer this is to search in the European Union database. Currently, the following products require CE marking:
In most cases, European regulations and directives conduct us to harmonised UNE-EN standards, which are the ones that really must be applied. Generally, a product should not satisfy a standard, but rather a group of standards, often interrelated and difficult to interpret.
The different notified organisations have specific technical regulations approved by the Administration, which must also be complied to obtain the CE Marking or the product mark.
Since 2002 our Firm has developed CE Marking and product standardisation projects, advising, as a specialised consultant, in all phases of the design, implementation, inspection and certification of the product, intervening, of course, in the preparation of the technical file and the declaration of benefits.
At present, we are one of the leading engineering companies in the application of industry standards. This experience has only one recipient and one purpose: We can provide simple, effective and efficient solutions to our clients.
We develop consulting projects throughout the peninsular geography, being in Catalonia, Andalusia, Extremadura, Galicia, Basque Country/Euskadi, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Valencia, Castilla and Leon and the Canary Islands, where we have a larger establishment.