I see that many building products are BBA approved. What's that all about and what if a product in not approved, does it matter? I'm thinking something important like EPS300 in a foundation!

So, for example, if a rather royal insulation manufacturer's EPS300 is not BBA accredited for use in foundations, I needn't worry?

I would go further than Nick and say that a Building Inspector must not accept uncertified product application. The need for Compliance with the Approved Documents being set out in the 1984 Building Act of Parliament.

Of course the reason Building Inspectors can (ahem) apply the requirements as they see fit is that they cannot be personally held responsible for a bad outcome as each Inspector is 'acting on behalf of the Secretary of State'

It's generally the specifieror builder who gets litigated against after things go pear shaped

Indeed, though I don't really see how that contradicts the need for 'compliance' it just opens the door to alternative methods - this caveat there I believe to allow for technological advances - the Approved Documents don't say that alternative methods do not need to comply - and in practice they do need Certification - As an example I have a Patent pending for a carrier panel for EWI - whether it will work in practice matters not - without third party certification it cannot be used. It is the 1984 Building Act which sets this out in law - not the Approved Documents

Incidentally one product which seems to be teflon where this is concerned is a particular brand of multifoil - which has dubious claims of thermal performance still accepted in some Local Authorities - though as the contention is nothing to do with causing damage or injury I guess common sense prevails where there is not a viable (compliant) alternative

I don't know - checking is easy though

Manufacturers usually have any Certification they carry in big lights with a link to the Certificate itself - If they don't then its a fair bet that they don't have one.

You can run a search for BBA's here though http://www.bbacerts.co.uk/#search

Though there are other Testing houses - UKAS list them by area here http://www.ukas.com/about-accreditation/accredited-bodies/

The one which seems most applicable to building products here http://www.ukas.com/about-accreditation/accredited-bodies/certification-body-schedules-PROD.asp

Then there are the European equivalents..

Yep, the LABC Certificate presumably in place as the product has European 3rd Party Certification - So equivalent to UK BBA (All the Certificates and Approvals on their website though unfortunately all in German).

Posted By: CWattersYes CE marking should be an acceptable alternative to BBA these days.

I'd wrongly assumed that if it went into the construction of a building it would have to be BBA approved. Thanks for the clarification.

I'm not sure CE marking exclusively means 3rd Party Certification.

BBA Certainly is and it's this which enables compliance with the Approved Documents and hence the 1984 Building Act.

The list I linked to above is of equivalent bodies and the European ones are likewise acceptable under the Approved Documents.

One thing 3rd party certification does is link a product to a particular application - and therefore does away with the potential confusion of which insulation (for example) works in which scenario.

I'm not sure if the CE mark means the same thing or whether it is more akin to a British Standard (kite mark). If so it's Certification on a more basic (generic) level

Yep, CE doesn't necessarily mean something has been third party tested (though it can do)

It means that the product complies with a specific EU Directive and it is for the manufacturer to apply for the CE marking showing that it does.

Some EU directives require Third Party testing - some do not.

So *it depends* which directive the manufacturer wants to conform to.

Full details here https://www.gov.uk/ce-marking

The pertinent point is no3