The European Commission publishes the first delegated acts under the new Construction Products Regulation

The European Commission has published the first delegated acts under the new Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 (CPR). These are Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/331, concerning reaction to fire, and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/557, concerning fire resistance.

This marks an important milestone, as it initiates the mechanism through which the performance characteristics of construction products will progressively be defined under the new CPR framework.

Why start with fire performance?

The choice is far from coincidental.

Reaction to fire and fire resistance are among the most mature areas of European construction product legislation. For many years, the sector has relied on well-established test methods, harmonised classification criteria, and a common technical language.

For this reason, fire performance provides the ideal starting point for implementing the new CPR without introducing substantial changes to the performance classifications already familiar to the market.

What changes under the new delegated acts?

From a technical perspective, the performance classes remain unchanged.

For reaction to fire, the existing A1–F classification system continues to apply, together with the established classifications for smoke production and flaming droplets/particles.

For fire resistance, the familiar classifications R, E, I, W, and their various combinations expressed in minutes, also remain unchanged.

The main innovation concerns the regulatory approach.

Unlike the previous framework, the new delegated acts no longer refer directly to technical standards through specific references to particular editions. Instead, they define the required performance by describing the applicable test methods. The detailed testing procedures continue to be governed by Harmonised Technical Specifications (hTS) and European Assessment Documents (EADs).

This approach is intended to make the regulatory system more flexible and easier to update over time.

Why are these delegated acts necessary?

The previous delegated regulations on fire performance were adopted under the former Construction Products Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 and are not applicable under the new Regulation (EU) 2024/3110.

Consequently, new delegated acts were required to ensure that the existing performance classifications could continue to apply within the new regulatory framework.

A first building block of the new CPR

These delegated regulations do not introduce new performance classes or modify the technical criteria already established and used by the market. Their significance lies in the fact that they activate the new legislative mechanism introduced by CPR (EU) 2024/3110, through which the essential characteristics of construction products will be progressively regulated in the coming years.