CHAPTER III: European technical approval

Article 8

1.

European technical approval is a favourable technical approval is a favourable technical assessment of the fitness for use of a product for an intended use, based on fulfillment of the essential requirements for building works for which the product is used.
2.

European technical approval may be granted to.
(a) products for which there is neither a harmonized standard, nor a recognized national standard, nor a mandate for a harmonized standard, and for which the Commission, after consulting the committee referred to in Article 19, considers that a standard could not, or not yet, be elaborated; and
(b) products which differ significantly from harmonized or recognized national standards.
Even in the case where a mandate for a harmonized standard has been issued, the provisions referred to in (a) do not exclude the granting of European technical approval for products for which guidelines for such approval exist. This shall apply until the entry into force of the harmonized standard in the Member States.
3.

In special cases, the Commission may, as a derogation from paragraph 2 (a), authorize the issue of European technical approval, after consulting the committee referred to in Article 19, for products for which there is a mandate for a harmonized standard, or for which the Commission has established that a harmonized standard can be elaborated. The authorization shall be valid for a fixed period.
4.

European technical approval shall in general be issued for a five Year period. This period may be extended.

Article 9

1.

European technical approval for a product shall be based on examinations, tests and an assessment on the basis of the interpretative documents referred to in Article 3 (3) and of the guidelines referred to in Article 11 for this product or the corresponding family of products.
2.

Where guidelines referred to in Article 11 do not or not yet exist, European technical approval may be issued by reference to the relevant essential requirements and the interpretative documents where the assessment of the product is adopted by the approval bodies acting jointly in the organization referred to in Annex II. If the approval bodies cannot agree, the matter shall be referred to the committee referred to in Article 19.
3.

The European technical approval for a product shall be issued in a Member State in accordance with the procedure laid down in Annex II at the request of the manufacturer or his agent established in the Community.


Article 10

1.

Each Member State shall notify the other Member States and the Commission of the names and addresses of the bodies which it has authorized to issue European technical approvals.
2.

The approval bodies must satisfy the requirements of this Directive and in particular must be able:
- to assess the fitness for use of new products on the basis of scientific and practical knowledge,
- to take impartial decisions in relation to the interests of the manufacturers concerned or their agents, and
- to collate the contributions of all the interested parties in a balanced assessment.
3.

The list of approval bodies which are competent to issue European technical approvals, is well as any amendments to that list, shall be published in the 'C' series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.


Article 11

1.

The Commission shall, after consulting the committee referred to in Article 19, issue mandates for establishing guidelines for European technical approval for a product or family of products to the organization of approval bodies designated by the Member States.
2.

The guidelines for European technical approval for a product or family of products should contain the following, in particular:
(a) a list of the relevant interpretative documents referred to, in Article 3 (3);
(b) specific requirements for the products within the meaning of the essential requirements referred to in Article 3 (1);
(c) the test procedures;
(d) method of assessing and judging the results of the tests;
(e) the inspection and conformity procedures which must correspond to Articles 13, 14 and 15;
(f) the period of validity of the European technical approval.
3.

The guidelines for European technical approval shall, after consultation with the committee referred to in Article 19, be published by the Member States in their official language or languages.