Connections with the Danish Scheme
In connection with the marketing and sale of construction products in contact with drinking water, there must be documentation for the health properties of the construction product as a whole or the water-affected sub-components of which the construction product consists.
This can, among other things, be done by using German certificates that are in accordance with the system that applies in Germany as health documentation, cf. section 3, no. 3 of the Executive Order.
When applying for GDV approval or GDV renewal, applicants can also use e.g. German certificates in accordance with the system applicable in Germany as documentation of the health properties of construction products or sub-components of materials other than metal. This appears from the GDV executive order section 9(1).
The new German scheme
After the end of the transition scheme on 21 March 2023, the new German rules apply to plastics and other organic materials (including coatings, lubricants) in contact with drinking water.
The German environmental agency, Umweltbundesamt (UBA), has set the new mandatory evaluation criteria for plastics and other organic materials in contact with drinking water (KTW-BWGL), which are now applicable.
This means that documentation that has been tested in accordance with the previous German regulations, KTW, cannot in future be considered valid documentation for applications in the GDV scheme for a building product or sub-components made of plastic and other organic materials.
This applies even if the German certificate only expires after 21 March 2023.
Documentation
In the GDV scheme, the following German certificates can now be accepted as health documentation for construction products or components made of plastic and other organic materials:
- Declaration of Conformity (AoC) according to the 1+ system prepared by an accredited certification body in accordance with the rules of KTW-BWGL.
Product certificate prepared by an accredited certification body based on testing in accordance with the rules of KTW-BWGL. However, certificates based on a material sample are not accepted.
The specific certificates will be reviewed in connection with the case processing to ensure that there is clear traceability between the building product or subcomponent in question covered by the application and the product covered by the submitted certificate.
Traceability of the material is not sufficient. If there is not the necessary traceability, the certificate will not be able to be used as documentation.
Plastic and other organic materials
When marketing and selling construction products or sub-components thereof made of plastic and other organic materials, the above-mentioned certificates can also be used as documentation for the health properties.
Building products or sub-components made of elastomers or thermoplastic elastomers are covered by a special transitional arrangement until 1 March 2025.