Definition and objectives
The Declaration of Performance (DoP) is the key concept in the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).
The DoP gives the manufacturer the opportunity to deliver the information about the essential characteristics of his product he wants to deliver to the market.
The manufacturer shall draw up a Declaration of Performance when a product covered by a harmonised standard (hEN) or a European Technical Assessment (ETA) is placed on the market.
The manufacturer, by drawing up his DoP, assumes the responsibility for the conformity of the construction product with the declared performance.
On the basis of the information contained in the DoP, the user will decide to buy, amongst all the products available on the market, the one which is fit for the use he intends to give to such product and he assumes the full responsibility of such decision.
The DoP constitutes then the key element in the functioning of the Internal Market for construction products by providing it with the necessary transparency and by establishing a clear system of allocation of the responsibilities between actors.
Methods and criteria
All the information supplied with the DoP is obtained by strictly applying the methods and criteria provided by the relevant harmonised standard or, in absence of an applicable harmonised standard, by the relevant European Assessment Document.
The correct application of these methods and criteria are guarantied by the manufacturer himself and, where required, by a Delegated Act (Commission legal act under the CPR), by the appropriate involvement of a Notified Body, following the applicable system of Assessment of Performance and Verification of Constancy.
The DoP shall be drawn up following the model set out in Annex III of the CPR.
The minimum amount of information that the manufacturer is obliged to provide is set up in Art. 6 of the CPR, but is worth mentioning here, because of its innovative character in relation with the current situation under the Construction Products Directive (CPD) , that he has to declare the intended use or uses of the product and, at least one of the relevant essential characteristics for each of the declared intended use(s), the rest of these relevant characteristics being followed by No Performance Declared (NPD).
The CE marking follows the DoP and means that the manufacturer has strictly followed all the applicable procedures for drawing up his DoP and, consequently, the DoP is accurate and reliable.