The European standard
The CE Marking for placing aggregates on the market has been mandatory since 2004. The reference standards are the following ones:
- EN 12620 “Aggregates for concrete”
- EN 13043 “Aggregates for bituminous mixtures”
- EN 13055-1 “Lightweight aggregates for concrete, mortar and grout”
- EN 13139 “Aggregates for mortar”
- EN 13383-1 “Armourstone”
- EN 13450 “Aggregates for railway ballast”
- EN 13242 “Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in civil engineering work and for road construction”
Aggregates can be used directly in the works or be included in them, after they have been mixed with other construction products (e.g. aggregates used as components of mixtures of concrete, bituminous mixtures, and mortars).
The method concerning the conformity granting for the aggregates specified in the above-mentioned standards is the 2+, when a structural usage of the aggregates themselves is required.
The aggregates specified in the harmonised standards can have several origins. There are:
- natural aggregates (e.g. the ones coming from the extraction activities in a quarry or from the riverbeds);
- Waste recycling aggregates (e.g. the ones resulting from activities of building demolition, concrete works, scarification of the road surface, waste components of the production cycle of prefabricated concrete elements, rubbish of industrial origin, etc.)
- Artificial aggregates (for example an aggregate of mineral origin, which is then subject to an industrial process involving a thermal or change or a change of another type)
ANCCP service
ANCCP Certification Agency works as Notified Body to the European Union (n° 0302) for the certification of aggregates according to the Certificate System 2+.
Interested parties
The manufacturers of aggregates have to establish the type of use of the aggregates, so if this is specified in the above-mentioned harmonised standards and is structural. The aggregates manufacturers need the FPC Certificate, which is fundamental for affixing the CE marking.
Such certificate, which is issued after a positive initial inspection, has to be maintained active trough the subsequent regular conformity inspections.