ETA and EAD: the European route

What an ETA is

The European Technical Assessment follows the same logic as the NMÉ but is valid throughout the Union. It is applied for voluntarily and operates within the framework of the EU construction products regulation. It is issued by members of EOTA — the designated technical assessment bodies.

What an EAD is

The European Assessment Document is the background document describing how the performance of a given kind of product has to be determined: which characteristics, by which test, with which assessment.

The relationship is simple: the EAD is the method, the ETA the result issued for a particular product. Where an EAD already exists for a kind of product, the next manufacturer’s ETA can be produced faster, because no method has to be developed.

When it pays

Where the manufacturer supplies several countries

An NMÉ is valid only here. For several markets an ETA is one route instead of one procedure per country.

Where the product stays on the market

The procedure takes time and money, so it pays back where the product can be sold for years.

Where the client base expects it

In some client circles having an ETA is the price of entry, whether or not legislation requires it.

When it does not pay

Where the structure is bespoke and not marketed as a product. A thin-walled steel frame designed for a project is not a product: there is nothing to “give an ETA to”. The route there is the design and verification produced for the project.

The transition now under way

The EU regulation has been renewed, and that affects the ETA/EAD system too: European assessment documents established under the earlier framework remain valid for a defined period, and procedures are moving gradually under the new regulation. Anyone starting a procedure now should establish which framework it runs under. The new construction products regulation.

The point

An ETA is the manufacturer’s tool for market access, not the designer’s tool for compliance. A system having an ETA does not mean the particular building does not still have to be designed and signed.