The Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC) requires construction product manufacturers to demonstrate that their products do not emit harmful substances to the air. This is particularly important for products used indoors where such substances could build up and affect the air quality for occupants.

ECCA has carried out testing to the international standard ISO16000 by the certified laboratory CSTB to quantify the emissions from prepainted metal surfaces. There is no European standard for the maximum allowable emissions, but ECA-IAQ, AgBB and AFSSET all have recognised schemes in place and the ECCA samples were evaluated against the limits defined in these methodologies.

The conclusion of the testing is that in all respects, VOC and formaldehyde emissions from the prepainted metal samples were well within all limits defined by the various schemes.