"Fire safety standard" EN 16034 comes into force

The product standard EN 16034 "Pedestrian doorsets, industrial, commercial, garage doors and openable windows – Fire resistance and/or smoke control characteristics" can be used with effect from 01/11/2016 for the CE mark.

The Official Journal of the European Union dated 28/10/2016 now specifies however that the standard is valid only in conjunction with the respective product standards for windows and exterior doors (EN 14351-1) and gates (EN 13241).

With this, manufacturers can distribute these products with the CE mark all over Europe with effect from November if the requirements are met.

Apart from the test certificates, this includes external surveillance by a notified product certification body (NPZ) that has to issue the necessary certificate. Manufacturers can get the support for the necessary services from ift Rosenheim for the CE mark.

With the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 28 October (C 398/55), the product standard EN 16034 " Pedestrian doorsets, industrial, commercial, garage doors and openable windows – Fire resistance and/or smoke control characteristics" has been harmonised; it comes into force on 1 November 2016 – with effect from this date it is possible to obtain a CE mark for these products.

The coexistence phase has been specified from 01/11/2016 up to 01/11/2019. For architects, manufacturers and fabricators, this means that the European classes in accordance with EN 16034 may be specified in tenders for exterior doors and gates.

The basis for preparing the declaration of performance and the CE mark is the "Certificate of constancy of performance of the product", which is prepared by a notified product certification body.

However, EN 16034 is valid only in conjunction with the respective product standards for windows and exterior doors (EN 14351-1) and gates (EN 13241); it contains the note "The EN 16034:2014 standard must be applied only in conjunction either with EN 13241-1:2003+A2:2016 or with EN 14351-1:2006+A2:2016."

This is why the two product standards "EN 13241-1:2003+A2:2016; Industrial, commercial, garage doors and gates – Product standard, performance characteristics" and "EN 14351-1:2006+A2:2016; Windows and doors – Product standard, performance characteristics – Part 1: Windows and external pedestrian doorsets" also had to be adapted in order to expand the scope of use accordingly.

The amendments "A2" dated 2016 for both standards were necessary in order to represent the interaction of these standards with EN 16034 coherently and conclusively, since, so far, both standards, claimed that they were not applicable to products with requirements for fire safety or smoke control.

This is why in the Official Journal, on the harmonised edition of EN 14351-1:2006+A2:2016 there is a supplementary passage:

"The sentence regarding the 'capability for release' in Section 1 — Scope of application (of the standard EN 14351-1:2006+A2:2016) is excluded from the scope of the published number."

On the CEN website, the supplement to EN 14351-1:2006+A2:2016 is described as follows "The windows described in this standard are not evaluated with respect to their capability for release (to publish)."

While the edition of the standard valid so far stated "This European Standard is not valid for: … windows in escape routes", the new sentence of the standard is meant to clarify that windows in escape routes are not completely excluded from the scope of the standard, but merely the characteristic "capability for release" for windows cannot be assessed in accordance with the standard, but it can, of course, be used to assess the other technical characteristics!

For exterior doors in escape routes, for which the standardisation mandate was valid, nothing has changed; these remain in the conformity procedure (AVCP) 1; the manufacturer must have the production under surveillance by a notified certification body in order to be able to market and distribute the same.

In the product standards, "EN 13241-1:2003+A2:2016; Gates – Product standard, performance characteristics", the following passage has been added in paragraph 2.1 "Fire resistance and/or smoke control characteristics for gates are handled in EN 16034."

Since the German editions of the two product standards EN 14351-1 and EN 13241-1 have not yet been published, you have to refer to them on the CEN website of the European Standards Organisation in order to be able to classify them.