The European Technical Assessment (ETA) is a European document that contains information on the assessment of the essential performance characteristics of a product. The ETA is prepared in accordance with the European Assessment Document (EAD), which covers the product for particular intended uses.
The purpose of ETAs is to certify products that are not fully covered under harmonised standards*, as well as products covered by an EAD or an ETAG Guide used as an EAD.
*Harmonised standards include EN or ISO standards, written and adopted by one of the European standardisation organisations, following a mandate issued by the European Commission after consulting with the member states. These harmonised standards represent around 20% of European standards. They are used to demonstrate that products or applications meet the technical requirements of pertinent European legislation.
Obtaining an ETA makes it possible to bear a CE marking, enabling the marketing of non-standard products in European and international markets (in the latter case not regulatory, but with good recognition and technical and commercial prestige).
To obtain an ETA, the product manufacturer must request a certification process from one of the more than forty Technical Assessment Bodies (TABs).
An ETA can be obtained:
- By creating an EAD, for products not covered or not fully covered by a harmonised technical specification.
- Directly, for products covered by an EAD or by an ETAG Guide used as an EAD.
How does the European Construction Products Regulation (EU) 305/2011 work?
Starting 1 July 2013, the (EU) regulation 305/2011 replaces the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC, introducing new instruments to promote the free marketing of construction products on the single European market and improving information about the characteristics and features of products.
The new terminology of the regulation is:
| DIRECTIVE 89/106/EC | REGULATION (EU) 305/2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETAG Guides | European Assessment Document (EAD) | |||
| CUAP: Common Understanding Assessment Procedure | ||||
| European Technical Approval Guidelines (ETAG) | European Technical Assessment (ETA) | |||
| Authorized Body | Technical Assessment Body (TAB) | |||
| European Organisation of Authorized Bodies (EOAB) | European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA) | |||
Process for Obtaining an ETA
How to identify a product with ETA?
Any product with ETA certification must be indicated and accredited on the sales packaging with a distinctive mark. Additionally, special attention should be paid to the information required by the applicable technical specification, including the following information:
For INDEX® products, it is indicated on the packaging of each product with ETA approval as follows.
What do the Options in an ETA mean?
In ETAs for mechanical and chemical anchors for use in concrete, different assessment “options” are established based on the intended use in non-cracked and/or cracked concrete, as well as the consideration of reducing the resistance if the anchor is used near an edge or near other anchors. A normal or simplified calculation method is used depending on the option chosen.
The following table indicates the available assessment options:
What are structural and non-structural applications?
In addition to ETAs for use in concrete, there is a specific ETA for use in concrete for redundant non-structural systems.
Non-structural systems are those whose failure does not put at risk the general stability of the construction works, for instance: electrical installations, piping and ventilation and heating systems.
The characteristic of being “redundant” refers to applications with multiple fixings where in the event that one of them fails or is excessively displaced, the load will be distributed to neighbouring fixings without significantly violating the resistance and service requirements of the system.
