From: Wayne Rogerson, Joint MD, CENSolutions

Our industry could be forgiven for being distracted with the countless economic and political challenges that were thrown our way in 2019, but in 2020 we have a new and very specific challenge to face, and we need to prepare quickly to ensure continued compliance.

The standard for the manufacture of Double-Glazed Sealed Units (IGU’s) has been amended. It is currently in transition and becomes mandatory on the 19th March 2020.

This hEN standard - EN 1279:2018 product standard – is needed to comply with the Construction Products Regulation and has undergone several changes that will affect Sealed Unit Manufacturers. The changes need to be addressed urgently. We can’t cover the complexities of the changes in this letter but here’s a summary of how sealed unit manufacturers will need to comply from the March deadline.

• Primary and Secondary Sealant – compliance with EN 1279:4-2018
• Molecular Sieves – change in test method and compliance with EN 1279:4-2018
• Foamed Spacer Systems – test methods and compliance with EN 1279:4-2018
• Testing to EN 1279-6:2018– new parameters and tolerances.
• Change of documentation to reference the new standard.

The changes are relatively straightforward but there is a process that needs to be adhered to before the deadline to ensure ongoing compliance, so companies do need to act sooner rather than later. As is always the case with changing legislation we’ve found there is a general lack of awareness across the industry and no sense of urgency to meet the deadline, which inevitably leads to a last-minute rush when the deadline is upon us.

We’re already helping our existing customers to get up to date ahead of the deadline, but we’ve also tried to help companies further afield by providing some free of charge impartial guidance on the issue on our website, www.censolutions.com