Roman’s CE Investment
Roman, International market leading shower designer and manufacturer, has completely revamped their Testing Area, where they ensure all their products conform to and exceed the CE Marking Standards. This revamp has cost just over £50,000 and is seen as vital in ensuring CE compliance.
Roman meticulously tests the performance and endurance of all of their products, to ensure they conform to the Shower Enclosure Standard, BS EN14428. They have a dedicated testing room, which has recently been refurbished to make better use of its space, so more products and different tests can be carried out simultaneously.
There are three main tests that need to be carried out on the shower enclosure to ensure they conform to the BS EN14428 Standard. A water retention test needs to be carried out to ensure there is no leakage of the products, this is tested with a shower valve set at the stated pressure in the enclosure being tested, for a set amount of time. A cycle rig is also set up to test the opening and closing of the shower enclosure door. The cycle rig will open and close the door 20,000 times, which replicates a product lifecycle. A swing ball test is also carried out, which uses different weighted balls of up to 50kg, to swing into the shower enclosure. This test is undertaken to imitate if someone were to fall into the enclosure, to make sure the enclosure is strong enough to withstand the impact. If any problems occur during the testing stage they will be resolved and the product will be tested again through the full lifecycle to ensure the product exceeds the BS EN14428 Standard.
Roman design and manufacture their range of products in the UK, so began testing their products to ensure that they conform to every detail of the CE mark at the end of 2012. Their range has carried the marking since February 2013, in preparation for the change in legislation as of the 1st July 2013. The CE Mark indicates that a product complies with EU regulation, but it is a self-certification scheme and it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure their products conform to the relevant regulations.
For shower enclosures the key standard is the BS EN14428, which tests for functional requirements. This then ensures the shower enclosure meets the EU Construction Products Regulation, and can legitimately carry the CE mark. Roman’s range has been tested to ensure it conforms and surpasses these standards.
Manufacturers must make the declaration of performance available to their customers, therefore Roman make sure theirs is available for everyone to see. They include CE marking details within their literature; their individual product instructions manuals; and on their website. In line with the standard, Roman also displays their CE documents for each product on their website, so customers can have quick and easy access to this information.
David Osborne, Managing Director of Roman, commented: “We are extremely rigorous with our CE Mark testing and the new testing room is a great investment for the future in reinforcing our position as the UK market leader. We foresee CE compliance as an increasingly influential differential over the coming years.”