News & events

This special edition of the Gazette has been distributed at the CEIR Congress on 6-8 June 2018. In addition to the Congress programme, it provides an economic outlook for the sanitary, industrial and building valve sectors. 

CEIR statement on the status of valves in relation to the Machinery Directive, as a reaction to the recent publication of a document from German associations, entitled “Guideline - Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC - Meaning for Valves” (original title “Leitfaden - Maschinenrichtlinie (2006/42/EG) - Bedeutung für Armaturen”).

 CEIR co-signed recommendations for a successful European cybersecurity certification framework.

The next European Bathroom Forum (EBF) meeting will take place on 5 July in Lisbon.

key Industry experts, NGO’s, national authorities from UK, Portugal, Denmark, representatives of the European Commission together with the European Bathroom Forum met on the 26 April 2018.

The revised EPBD supports for better consideration of TRVs and strengthens the hydraulic balancing of the heating system

Mr Velazquez was formally elected as Chairman of the European Bathroom Forum in March 2018.

Water label: manufacturers moved from the ‘Best of both” to the “Best of ALL” Initiative

CEIR welcomes the review of the Drinking Water Directive (DWD): This is a unique opportunity  to set up a harmonised regulatory framework setting EU-wide requirements for all products and materials in contact with drinking water.

CEIR fully supports the objective of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD): reduce the energy consumption of buildings. We support the ambitious approach of the European Parliament adopted in the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee report.

The ongoing review of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) must ensure that EU legislation supports energy efficiency for all European citizens.

National laws on products in contact with drinking water is a concern for the European taps and valves industry, but the last 12 months have shown several signs that the long expected harmonisation is about to happen. Last summer, an evaluation of the Drinking Water Directive has been published, followed by a commission roadmap and an impact analysis early 2017.

Benjamin Franklin once said that there are only two certain things in life, “death and taxes”.
Contrary to this there is a third and it is that our earth’s resources are finite.
Amongst the biggest challenges in our troubled world will be how we plan to manage those dwindling resources, and recycle, repair and renew what we already have, including buildings and their contents.
For the sake of our future generations we have to take care of what we have got. The old saying “waste not, want not” is now more important than it’s ever been and we as leaders in the design and construction industries, have a responsibility to heed its premise and act sustainably.

The term "additive technologies" includes all those operations that add material for the creation of a product. Typical examples of these technologies, in traditional interpretation, are welding and foundry (with its many variants).

The question of the applicability of the Machinery Directive (MD) to Industrial Valves has generated much discussion and considerable confusion in recent years.

The Dual-use regulation is under revision and a proposal has already been published which aims at modernising the EU export control regime.
Amongst other equipment, some industrial valves are in the scope of the regulation and this topic is carefully followed by Orgalime and the national associations.

CEIR and FECS believe that manufacturers must play a key role in the ongoing development of an acceptable international harmonised Building Information Modeling (BIM) system for the bathroom industry. Therefore, CEIR and FECS agreed to work together to achieve this goal.

As announced in the previous CEIR Gazette, the BIM is growing and is no longer limited to the building itself but also to industrial facilities.

Ugo Pettinaroli was elected CEIR President on the occasion of the CEIR Annual Congress on 8 & 9 June 2017 in Brussels. He takes over from Pascal Vinzio.

Regulations regarding the fitness for purpose, and by implication the safety of bathroom products, are being habitually flouted by unscrupulous manufacturers and importers. This concerning fact was highlighted in a recent European Commission report and it has confirmed what the Bathroom Manufacturers Association has believed for some time.