Data structure of the DoPC for construction products to be included in the DPP

CEN and CENELEC has created a new working group: Digitalization of construction products performance characteristics within the #BIM committee. CEN/TC 442/WG 12 has Espen Schulze as Convenor and I will manage the Secretariat representing UNE Asociación Espa?ola de Normalización .

The first project of EN standard will define the data structure for the digital DoPC (Declaration of Performance and Conformity) of construction products under the future CPR (Construction Products Regulation). It will consider the data templates defined on EN ISO 23387 and EN ISO 12006-3, and other BIM standards and projects under development.

A session to present the proposal to CEN/TC 442 members took places in May; you can see my presentation in SlideShare.

The first draft will also consider CWA 17316:2018 for Smart CE marking (digital Declaration of Performance), as the Smart CE concept was led by the industry, in particular by Construction Products Europe (CPE) (see Towards smart CE marking. CPE. 2016).

The draft will also consider the Spanish standard based on the CWA 17316 (UNE 41316:2020), which included some additional criteria and also a format for product data not included in the DoP. More information about this standard in the article Reliable communication of product performance information in the BIM value chain: Smart CE marking. Aitor Aragón. Spanish Journal of BIM.

Relation with the DPP and the CPR

The European Union aims to digitalize the product lifecycle management by introducing Digital Product Passports (DPP) in several regulations, like the future Construction Products Regulation (CPR). DPP will provide transparency and traceability, enabling stakeholders to access comprehensive information about their origin, materials and environmental impact of products.

In April 2024 the last available draft of the future CPR (reference CPR P9_TA(2024)0188 - New Regulation on Construction Products) was published.

It contains several criteria and requirements related with the digital DoPC (Declaration of Performance and Conformity), and with the DPP system.

Whereas (39)

(…) An important prerequisite for machine-readable declarations is a standardised IT format, which is required for each harmonised technical specification.

Article 16 Supply of the declaration of performance and conformity

1. The manufacturer shall supply by electronic means a copy of the declaration of performance and conformity of each product which is made available on the market unless the declaration is included in a product passport.

2. (…) a manufacturer may make the declaration of performance and conformity referred to in Article 13(1) available on a website, provided that it complies with all of the following conditions:

(a) it shall ensure that the content of the declaration of performance and conformity is made available in an unamendable electronic format on the website;

(b) it shall provide the declaration of performance and conformity in a human and machine-readable format and offer the possibility to download a copy in a commonly readable format; (…)

(f) it shall provide a link between the product and the declaration of performance and conformity related to it through the unique identification code of the product type; manufacturers may use a data carrier, including a permalink, to provide the link, provided that point (a) is fulfilled.

Article 75 Construction digital product passport system

1. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts (…) to supplement this Regulation by setting up a construction digital product passport system.

2. The construction digital product passport system shall:

(a) be compatible with, interoperable with and based upon the product passport established by Regulation (EU) on ecodesign for sustainable products], without compromising interoperability with Building Information Modelling (BIM).

?The digital DoPC should be part of the DPP of construction products, containing the structured data related with performance characteristics and any other information required in the DoPC.

The new CPR clearly states the the DPP system used for construction products should be aligned with the DPP system defined in the ESPR. Thus, cooperation between different industries will be required.

To standardize DPP, CEN/CENELEC created a new technical committee: CEN/CLC/JTC 24 "Digital Product Passport (DPP)", which will provide horizontal criteria and rules for the DPP. In principle, the implementation for product families in aspects such as the data format is not covered by this JTC and can be defined in CEN/TC 442. Members of TC 442 are participating in this JTC to ensure coordination in the approaches and criteria.

Digital EPDs

The declaration of performance and conformity (DoPC) will include the product’s environmental sustainability performance over its life-cycle. Annex I.3.3 of the future CPR deals with environmental inherent product requirements covering the life cycle (extraction and manufacturing of the materials, the manufacturing of the product, the transport of materials and products, its maintenance, its potential to remain as long as possible within a circular economy and its end of life phase).

ISO/TC 59/SC 17 developed an international standard for EPD data templates according to the BIM standards: EN ISO 22057, which includes an annex with the Smart CE implementation. This standard will also be considered in this PWI and coordination with ISO/TC 59/SC 17/WG 3 (and CEN/TC 350/WG 3) will be ensured.

There are currently several limitations that prevent EPD data from being directly machine-read, interpreted and transferred to BIM or LCA software. Some of these limitations also apply to other properties and characteristics in the DoP. To address this issue, I analysed the limitations for an automatic computer transfer of EPD-data into BIM software tools without previous human interpretation of the content, with two main steps:

1. Analysis of the reference documents for the main digital EPD formats; the international and european standards related to sustainability assessment of buildings and infrastructures, EPDs or BIM; and the scientific literature.
2. Analysis of digital EPDs available from EPD Programme Operators and construction product manufacturers.

The results are published in the article Limitations of machine-interpretability of digital EPDs used for a BIM-based sustainability assessment of construction assets in the Journal of Building Engineering. More info in the publication below.

Benefits

The transfer of meaningful product information in the value chain will enhance transparency and promote efficiency in the construction industry. To achieve an optimal result, the experience gathered in the development of the Smart CE concept should be used. The European Commission clearly explains the benefits of this digitalization for stakeholders in the new CPR:

Whereas (46) of the new CPR

1. Digital technologies, which provide a significant potential for reducing administrative burden and costs for economic operators and authorities, while also fostering innovative and new business opportunities and models, are evolving at rapid pace. The uptake of digital technologies will also contribute significantly towards achieving the objectives of the Renovation Wave, including energy efficiency, life cycle assessments and monitoring and of the building stock.

Product TCs will use this future standard to develop their digital DoPC, enabling the integration of regulated product information into the new DPP system proposed by the Commission. The goal is to have a simplified methodology to help users (manufacturers) in the development of these digital documents.

Other actors in the construction value chain (constructors, regulators, designers, etc.) will have a simple format containing all regulated information about a construction product, enabling its use in BIM.

Other advantages are explained in the document Towards smart CE marking from Construction Products Europe aisbl :

• facilitates the access to information in a sustainable way:
• improves the ability of companies in the supply chain to interact electronically and seamlessly; avoiding or significantly reducing paper-based, manual data processing;
• ensures fair competition and a level playing field;
• reduces the administrative burden of multiple declaration and overlapping requirements;
• enables the construction sector to adapt to the fast pace of technological change, fostering innovation.

Next steps

We should now convene the kick-off meeting. The tentative date is October, 29. To participate in CEN/TC 442/WG 12 you should contact your National Standardisation Body (NSB) to be appointed as expert. There are other options for European associations or special types of organizations, but I recommend you to contact your NSB or CEN/CENELEC for additional information.

The activities must be coordinated with CEN/CLC/JTC 24 for digital product passport and also with CEN/TC 350 Sustainability in construction, as EPD-data will be part of the Declaration of Performance and conformity. In addition, it should consider the results of the feasibility study for a DPP system for construction products, under development by TECNALIA Research & Innovation , Cobuilder and UNE Asociación Espa?ola de Normalización