Dear customers!

We have received a huge number of questions from our customers concerning the information about the prohibition of polyurethane (PU) sandwich panels in Latvia from August 8, 2015 published on the website of SIA Ruukki Latvija. According to SIA Ruukki Latvija this prohibition occurred due to changes in the VS EN 14509 standard.

Meanwhile, SIA Ruukki Latvija failed to provide explicit reference to the text of the standard concerning the above-mentioned restrictions. Taking into consideration the fact that our partnering manufacturers and suppliers possess no information about the limitation of use of PU-panels, as well as the fact that SIA Emimar disposes of the authentic LVS EN 14509:2014 text, we would like to make a declaration about the effective date of the new LVS EN 14509:2014 standard and the changes have taken place.

The existing standard for sandwich panels LVS EN 14509:2014 “Ar metāla sedzošajiem slāņiem abpusēji segti pašnesoši daudzslāņu paneļi. Rūpnieciski ražoti izstrādājumi. Tehniskie noteikumi” was adopted in Latvia on February 13, 2014; it replaced all previous versions of the national standard LVS EN 14509 and has been the only valid standard since August 8, 2015. This standard is identical to the standard of the European Union EN 14509:2013 „Self-supporting double skin metal faced insulating panels- Factory made products- Specifications”, which, in its turn, was adopted with all the innovations as a national standard in many European countries starting from 2013 (e.g. BS EN 14509:2013 in the UK and DIN EN 14509:2013 in Germany).

Regarding the fire safety requirements for sandwich panels, the major changes in the standard affected testing methods, and for all kinds of sandwich panels! For example, in accordance with EN ISO 11025-2 it is strongly indicated that testing the thermal layer of sandwich panels (core layer) must be carried out under direct fire without any coating material. This is the only significant change in the new standard. This change does not impose any additional fire safety requirements and does not limit the use of PU sandwich panels. Both the old and the new standard relate to panels with polyurethane core and determine the fire safety class of specified construction materials according to the EN 13501-1 standard.

We would like to draw our clients’ attention to the fact that the new version of the standard offers simplified dimensional requirements to all kinds of panels (see D: LVS EN 14509:2014 (E) Annex D – dimensional tolerances). SIA Emimar can give any specific explanation at the request of customers.

It follows from the foregoing that the introduction of the new standard does not prohibit the use of PU sandwich panels on the European construction market. According to the regulation Nr. 305/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council adopted on March 9, 2011, manufacturers must provide all the materials under the agreed standards with a quality statement. This statement ensures the compliance of construction materials with the existing standards. Thus, manufacturers take full responsibility for all delivered materials. In this case, the rights of consumers are protected against any changes to existing standards.

Thus, we can conclude that the public announcement of SIA Ruukki Latvija about the tight restrictions concerning the use of PU sandwich panels due to nonconformance to the existing standards can mislead customers and violate the principles of fair competition.

Sincerely,
SIA Emimar.

P.S. More about all the innovations and developments of the European standard EN 14509 read > here <