New national construction product regulations of the German states

The European Court of Justice ruled in October 2014 that Germany had infringed the EU Construction Products Regulation because additional national requirements for harmonised products had been imposed in three cases. This means that the German practice until now, that additional national technical requirements are also imposed on harmonised construction products, will have to be abandoned. Germany has assured the EU Commission that the building regulation law will be appropriately changed by 16/10/2016. This could however not been implemented on time for various reasons, so the German states have issued enforcement decrees in order to adapt the legal situation to the ECJ judgment. The legal situation at the moment is fairly complex and confusing. This article provides a brief overview.