Background
The European Union is committed to the goal of making Europe climate neutral by 2050, as set out in the "Green Deal" presented on December 11, 2019. As a concretization of this Green Deal, the European Commission has presented several policy proposals, one of which concerns the Construction Products Regulation. According to the Commission, this regulation is an appropriate means to boost the circularity of building products and ensure energy- and resource-efficient buildings.
The current Construction Products Regulation has been in effect since July 1, 2013, and requires manufacturers to demonstrate that their products meet European standards in the areas of technical specifications, performance, health, safety and environment, often referred to as CE marking (Conformité Européenne).
Bill
On March 30, 2022, the European Commission proposed adding the new requirements, including:
- The overall environmental and climate sustainability of products;
- The use of recyclable materials in the production process;
- preventing premature aging;
- promoting repair and reuse;
- accepting ownership of unsold products.
It is likely that the proposal will pass.
What does this mean in practice?
Although it will be some time before building products must meet the aforementioned circularity requirements, it makes sense for manufacturers of roofing materials to prepare for this now. Legal requirements aside, demand for circular products and solutions is growing from clients, in line with the broader recognition of the need to combat climate change. This trend implies that demand for circular roofing materials will increase, and it is prudent to respond accordingly.
The new Construction Products Regulation is also relevant for builders, clients and designing parties. It is important for standard concepts to check at an early stage whether the required roof material is still available and can be applied in the same way. If this is not the case, it should be taken into account in new designs. Builders, clients and designing parties are encouraged to engage in early discussions with regular suppliers to make arrangements and keep a finger on the pulse.
Take-back guarantee
Furthermore, it is good to realize that the requirement to promote repair and reuse may - legally speaking - have some issues. After all, after installation, roof materials will often soon form a single entity with the building in which they have been used and therefore, according to a common understanding, will belong to that building. By means of the legal phenomenon of component formation, the owner of the building then becomes the owner of the applied materials.
One way to still promote reuse is to agree on a take-back guarantee between the supplier and the buyer. The supplier and buyer then agree in the purchase agreement that the roof materials can be taken back (to the extent possible) and that ownership will revert to the original supplier.
When agreeing on a take-back guarantee, however, consideration will need to be given to the term of the take-back guarantee, the price of the building materials to be taken back, the condition in which the building materials must be when taken back and, finally, consideration will need to be given to whether the guarantee is linked to the contracting party or the building in which the building materials were used.
