In today's globalized building materials market, glass wool, as a high-quality thermal insulation material, is widely used in many fields such as building curtain walls and fiberglass air ducts.

EN 13162 Standard: The Core Basis for Glass Wool Certification

The EN 13162:2012+A1:2015 standard, titled "Thermal insulation products for buildings - Factory made mineral wool (MW) products - Specification," specifies the essential characteristics that thermal insulation products must meet to apply for mark certification. This standard applies to factory-made mineral wool products used for building thermal insulation, whether or not the products have facings or coatings, and the products can be made in various forms such as mats, boards, or slabs. For glass wool products, the EN 13162 standard imposes strict regulations across multiple dimensions: fire testing, thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and tensile strength.

Certification System: Flexible Selection Based on Products to Ensure Compliance

According to the requirements of Annex za.2 of the harmonized standard EN 13162, glass wool products can flexibly choose a certification system for CE certification based on their characteristics, such as whether flame retardants are added:

System 1: If the product contains flame retardants (fire testing is a mandatory item), System 1 is used for certification application. Under this system, an EU Notified Certification Body (EU NB Notified Body) must conduct type testing, factory inspection, and continuous surveillance of the product. Through a comprehensive and rigorous audit process, it ensures that the product consistently meets the requirements of the EN 13162 standard during production, guaranteeing product quality from the source.

System 3: When the product does not contain flame retardants (fire testing is also a mandatory item), an EU Notified Body can conduct type testing to determine the product type. This certification method provides a relatively streamlined certification pathway for some products while ensuring that their basic performance complies with the standard.

System 4: If there are no fire resistance requirements for the product, System 4 can be applied for, where the factory conducts type testing on its own and self-declares the product's conformity. However, it is important to note that in practical applications, most construction projects have certain requirements for the fire performance of thermal insulation materials, so the applicability of System 4 is relatively limited.