Thanks to the joint efforts of FM Approvals Europe Ltd. and Victaulic Company, a leading producer of mechanical pipe joining solutions and fire protection systems, it is now possible to obtain CE-marked flexible sprinkler hoses (fig 1) for use in the EU market and elsewhere.
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The European Technical Assessment (ETA) for flexible sprinkler hoses was requested by Easton, Pennsylvania-based Victaulic Company. The ETA was established by the EU’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR) as an alternative way to draw up a declaration of performance en route to CE marking for construction products not covered by a harmonized standard. Victaulic made this request of FM Approvals Europe Ltd. (NB #2809), a Dublin, Ireland-based Technical Assessment Body (TAB) and a member of the European Organization for Technical Assessment (EOTA).
Because no harmonized European Norm (hEN) standard was available for flexible sprinkler hose, FM Approvals Europe developed a new European Assessment Document (EAD) covering this product category based on Approval Standard 1637, Flexible Sprinkler Hose with Threaded End Fittings (fig 2).
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The EAD became a legal harmonized technical specification under the CPR when it was cited in the Official Journal of the European Union. FM Approvals Europe Ltd. issued the required Certificate of Constancy of Performance (2809-CPR-F0020) for the Victaulic VicFlex™ line of flexible sprinkler hose products earlier this year. FM Approval Europe issued the required Certificate of Constancy of Performance (2809—CPR—F0020) for the Victaulic VicFlex™ line of flexible sprinkler hose products early this year.
"From start to finish, this was about an 18-month process," notes Witali Engelhardt, FM Approvals operations vice president and manager new business for EMEA. "The actual timeline of every project is somewhat variable because the European Commission needs time to review all documentation; however, the EAD/ETA (European Technical Assessment) process is much faster than pursing the traditional harmonized standard route. That pathway has proved to be basically impassable."
Engelhardt adds, "Our long-established expertise and knowledge with these products has helped us navigate several EOTA projects to date. The flexible fire sprinkler hose ETA and certificate now enables Victaulic and other manufacturers to CE mark their products (fig 3) and satisfy the demands of the EU Construction Products Regulation."
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Victaulic chose FM Approvals to help it achieve its CE marking goals due to its long history with the organization and the fact that FM Approvals is uniquely qualified to provide this service. "In the case of flexible sprinkler hose, there were no harmonized standards by which these products could be evaluated," notes Len Swantek, director of regulatory compliance for Victaulic. "As such, the only option available was to utilize the EOTA route. We chose FM Approvals because of our strong partnership with the organization, their overall experience with the EOTA process and familiarity with Victaulic's extensive flexible sprinkler hose product line. We see this as viable means of achieving the CE mark for a wide range of fire protection products and plan continue to work with FM Approvals in a similar way through the EOTA process."