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Harmonised Technical Specification

Definition

Definition
Harmonised technical specification

In Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, the collective term for the technical instruments that make the Regulation operative for a given construction product family or category. It covers harmonised standards drafted by European standardisation organisations following a Commission standardisation request under Article 5, and other harmonised technical specifications adopted by the Commission under Article 6. Whether a product is covered by one determines whether the manufacturer must draw up a declaration of performance and conformity under Article 13.

Expanded Explanation

Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 is a framework. It does not itself state what a cement, an insulation board or a window must declare. That content arrives through harmonised technical specifications, family by family, over time.

Two routes exist. Under Article 5, the Commission may request one or more European standardisation organisations, in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, to draft harmonised standards laying down essential characteristics and their assessment methods. Under Article 6, the Commission may adopt other harmonised technical specifications itself. The second route is new relative to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 and gives the Commission a way to proceed where the standardisation route does not deliver.

Where no harmonised technical specification covers a product, the alternative is the European Assessment Document and the European Technical Assessment issued by a Technical Assessment Body.

The practical consequence is staggered coverage. A product family whose specification is adopted early faces detailed requirements sooner than one whose specification comes later, so two products in the same catalogue can sit in materially different regulatory positions at the same moment.

Why It Matters

For a construction digital product passport, the applicable harmonised technical specification decides the substance of what is published: which essential characteristics are declared, in what units and classes, and by what assessment method. The Regulation supplies the container; the specification supplies the content. Article 95(3) also preserves harmonised standards referenced under Article 17(5) of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 and in force on 8 January 2026, which remain valid under that Regulation until withdrawn or otherwise repealed.

Relationship to Digital Product Passports

Identifying the applicable specification is the first analytical step in any construction passport programme, because everything downstream, from test scope to declared values to validation rules, derives from it. Under Article 7 a harmonised standard may confer a presumption of conformity with product requirements, which is a legal effect the specification acquires within the framework the Regulation creates.

Common Misconceptions

Common Mistake
A harmonised technical specification is legislation

It is not. Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 is the law. A harmonised technical specification operates within the framework the law creates, and a harmonised standard drafted under an Article 5 request is one species of it.

Common Mistake
Harmonised technical specification and harmonised standard mean the same thing

Every harmonised standard adopted under Article 5 is a harmonised technical specification. Not every harmonised technical specification is a harmonised standard, because Article 6 provides another route.

Common Mistake
If no specification covers my product I have no obligations

The European Assessment Document and European Technical Assessment route exists precisely for that case, and other obligations under the Regulation continue to apply.

See Also

References

About This Article

About This Article
Last Reviewed
2026-08-09
Next Scheduled Review
2027-08-09
Article Version
1.0

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