CPR fire safety regulations

What you need to know about the CPR NEN 8012 regulations

• What does CPR regulation mean and what does the CPR NEN 8012 mean for you?
• How and why did the CPR regulations originate?
• How do you find the right fireproof cable for each fire risk? Who is responsible?

Below you will find the answers to your questions.

For more information please contact our sales department.

Tel.nr.: +32 (0)14/220 334
E-mail: sales@intronics.be 

The social importance of fire safety is increasing. People spend most of their time in buildings, unaware of the dangers that are present in the field of fire. Despite the fact that approximately 90% of all fires that break out every year take place in buildings. Guaranteeing quality in the use of building materials is therefore essential. CPR (Construction Products Regulation) is a European regulation that ensures that the essential characteristics and performance that construction products must meet are subject to clear requirements.

What is the purpose of the CPR?

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is intended to provide reliable information on construction products, in relation to the performance of the products. This is achieved by providing a "common technical language" to determine uniform assessment methods for the performance of the construction products. Those assessment methods shall be drawn up in harmonised technical specifications. This uniform technical language should be applied by:

• Manufacturers in communicating the performance of their products
• Member State authorities in specifying requirements
• Users (architects, engineers, constructors, etc.) when choosing which products to use

The following cables are subject to the CPR regulations:

• Cables that are intended to be used for the provision of electricity and communication in buildings and other civil engineering works and subject to fire performance requirements.
• Cables intended for the provision of electricity, communications, fire detection and alarms in buildings and other civil engineering works.

What performance characteristics of cables are covered by CPR?

The performance of cables that fall under the CPR are:

• Fire behaviour
• Function Preservation
• Release of hazardous substances under normal use, disassembly and recycling

In order to describe the fire behaviour of cables, cables are classified in a Euroclassification that consists of seven fire classes and the corresponding contribution to the fire:

The four classes in bold are relevant for Belgium in the context of EN 50575. Heat release and fire propagation are the most important criteria. Smoke development, falling burning material and acidity of flue gases are additionally classified. 

The European standard "EN 50575" replaces the Belgian standard "NBN C30-004" from 1 July 2017.
The cables are subdivided into:

• Euroclasses according to their primary fire reaction: F1 and F2
• Supplementary classifications according to their secondary fire reaction: SA and SD.

The European regulations stipulate that each country may determine the use and application of the Euroclasses and the optional parameters. In Belgium, the legislator chose three Euroclasses, two of them have additional criteria: • Eca • Cca s3 d2 a3 • Cca s1 d2 a1.
For harmonized cables (according to the HAR standard), Europe decided that the same minimum requirements should be used in all European countries: Eca and Cca s1 d2 a1. 

Cable manufacturers and importers are responsible for carrying out fire tests, drawing up and making available the Declaration of Performance (DoP) and drawing up and affixing the CE marking. According to CPR, an importer can also be considered a manufacturer if he places the product on the EU market.

Distributors ensure that all cable products covered by CPR made available on the market bear the correct CE marking and are accompanied by the documents required by the CPR.

Installers/consultants are responsible for the correct selection of the fire class and installation of the correct cable.

The owner/user of the building is responsible for determining the fire risk.

A DoP is a document drawn up by the manufacturer for each cable product:

• Identifies the product
• Indicates its intended use
• Indicates the essential characteristics as given in the declared performances

On the basis of the information in the DoP, the user chooses to purchase the product that according to must be used in the Netherlands for the work to be carried out. The user is responsible for the choice that he makes.

Other information can be found at the website of the European Commision.