The road restraint systems are the main passive safety components of road infrastructure and their right functioning has, in most cases where cars went off road, a major role in the decrease of damages caused by the accident.
The recent introduction of EU laws, with the mandatory CE marking sorts and allows the Italian companies to access more easily to European markets.
Moreover, it has partially modified the national regulatory scene; the duty to assess the efficiency and usage of a device is no longer the Italian Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure but it is a responsibility to a third-party body, like CSI.
CSI is a third-party body n. 0497 for the CE certification of the road-restraint system, noise barriers and other building products.
CSI does the test activity following the standard EN ISO/IEC 17025 and the regulation EU n. 305/2011 (CPR).
This regulation sets out the harmonized conditions for the building product commercialization and regulates the process of production, marking and their marketing.
CSI is authorized to do assessment and constancy verification of the performances and to issue the constancy certificate of performance, under the regulation UE N.305/11 for the following products:
The test approved in conformity of the reference European standard EN 1317 are one of the preconditions to obtain the CE marking. The standard EN 1317 (Road restraint barriers) indicates the performance requirements for the road restraint system, defines its performance categories and the acceptance criteria for the impact test (crash test) for the CE marking.
The crash tests are necessary to assess the basic requirements of the road restraint device:
The conformity of the road restraint system to the requirements of the standards EN 1317-5 has to include:
The third-party body will ask to the maker a ITT report.
The ITT report has to include the following information:
The companies will establish, provide documentary evidence and maintain a FPC system to guarantee that the products sold on the market are complaint to the declared performances. The FPC system consists of written procedures, inspections and regular tests and/or evaluation and using the results to check the materials or the raw materials and other incoming goods, equipment, production process and finished product.
The recordings must be readable, easily recognizable and recoverable for at least 10 years.
The certification body does an initial inspection.
The minimum frequency for the tests and components evaluation in the FPC field is once a year and it is controlled by the certification body.
The manufacturer shall record its results. This registration must include at least the following information:
In the presence of this conformity, the notified body from the UE, like CSI, can issue the performance constancy certificate that allows the CE marking. The CE marking implies that products are complaint to the services included in the performance declaration and that can be exchange freely on the EU market.