The requirements of the Construction Products Regulation and the procedures for demonstrating conformity with those requirements are being adopted — both retroactively and prospectively — for road construction materials and products. The draft amendment to Regulation No. 74 of 22 September 2014, “Requirements for Road Construction Materials and Products and the Procedure for Demonstrating Conformity with Those Requirements”, published by the Ministry of Climate, proceeds from the view that this constitutes a clarification of terminology and a reduction of administrative burden. So we replace a few words and call it a language correction? Without acknowledging that we have, in fact, entered an entirely different conceptual framework — one known as the circular economy of construction products.

What was the situation before, and what changes now?

The Construction Products Regulation in force until 2024 was based on the classical logic of performance assessment: manufacturers of construction materials were required to submit a declaration of performance and to carry out and document the assessment and verification of performance and constancy. These were underpinned by factory production control, product type testing, and laboratory tests. From 7 January 2025, a new Construction Products Regulation entered into force, under which:

  • the former declaration of performance is replaced by a substantially different performance-conformity declaration (Annex V);
  • a new requirement is added for general product information, instructions for use, and safety information (Annex IV).

Annex IV: a new reality for all construction materials manufacturers

Annex IV of the regulation requires a risk analysis covering the full life cycle of the construction product:

  • transport, installation, removal, maintenance, disassembly, and demolition;
  • compatibility and interoperability with all integrated products, materials, and software;
  • maintenance requirements over the full service life (from a 10-year perspective);
  • operational safety.

In addition, recommendations must be provided on how to:

  • repair;
  • remove;
  • reuse;
  • remanufacture;
  • recycle or safely dispose of the product.

Because Estonia continues to invest under the banner of circular economy in what is essentially waste management infrastructure, this information requirement regarding circularity recommendations generates the greatest confusion. After all, the regulation does not specify what to measure, how to measure it, or in what form to present the results. It appears that measurement is required but the measurement methodology does not exist? In practice, the entire methodology already exists, has been transposed in Estonia, and is embedded in the Construction Products Regulation itself. The new Construction Products Regulation is, in fact, driven by the EU Circular Economy Action Plan’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products framework. Accordingly, measurement and reporting must be based on three circular economy standards:

  • EVS-ISO 59004:2025 Circular Economy — Vocabulary, Principles and Guidance for Implementation. This standard defines key concepts, establishes the vision and principles of the circular economy, and provides guidance on the actions required to implement them;
  • EVS-ISO 59020:2025 Circular Economy — Measuring and Assessing Circularity Performance. This standard specifies requirements and provides guidance for defining and measuring the circularity of a system;
  • EVS-ISO 59040:2025 Circular Economy — Product Circularity Data Sheet. This standard prescribes the format for disclosing measurement results.

Annex V: performance assessment in a new framework

Annex V of the new regulation also introduces significant changes to the technical verification system:

  • product type assessment and declaration are carried out in accordance with product categories specified in harmonised technical specifications or the European Assessment Document;
  • product performance must be expressed as calculated values, levels, or classes, not as references to other documents;
  • the risk analysis and circularity-related recommendations (i.e. Annex IV) are now an integral part of the performance-conformity declaration;
  • the number of declared essential environmental characteristics of the product increases from one (global warming potential) to nineteen (full life cycle environmental impacts).

Are manufacturers ready?

The market is currently rather quiet. Estonian manufacturers have shown limited interest in the new Construction Products Regulation, as they await the development of new harmonised standards. There is also a possible assumption that if a CE mark and an environmental product declaration (EPD) have not been required so far, they probably will not be required in future either. This is a conceivable but, in my assessment, unlikely scenario. The Construction Products Regulation also introduces another important new document to be aware of: the product digital passport. This is not some new digital novelty at which Estonia is inherently the best. The digital passport consolidates performance and conformity declaration data in digital form and makes it publicly accessible. The required technical standards for the digital passport will enter into force in 2026; however, since the circular economy standards are already available, manufacturers have been able to publish their products’ performance-conformity declarations on their websites in digital form since 8 January 2026. From 8 January 2027, voluntary use of the product digital passport will be possible, and it becomes mandatory from 1 July 2028.

Conclusion

If anyone refers to the amendments to Regulation No. 74 on “Requirements for Road Construction Materials and Products and the Procedure for Demonstrating Conformity” as a “language correction”, that is a rather bold simplification. In reality, we are moving into an entirely new paradigm in which every product used in road construction must be supported by transparent life cycle data, conceived within a circular framework, and verified digitally. For Estonian manufacturers, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity — the opportunity to enhance the credibility of their products and align with the new era of the circular economy.