How to choose 7 min read

The Declaration of Performance, Explained

What a floor covering's declaration of performance lists under EN 14041, what UKCA or CE means in Great Britain, how to read NPD, and what it leaves out.

Guide type

How to choose

Reading time

7 min

E1 limit

0.1 ppm

Max. resistance over UFH

0.15 m2K/W

Every floor covering sold in Great Britain as a construction product comes with a document that most buyers will not see and few sellers mention: the declaration of performance. It is a short document, it is written by the manufacturer, and it is the only place where the product's regulated characteristics are stated in a form that can be held against them. This guide explains what the document is, what the mark on the box means, what the lines on it say, and what it leaves out.

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What the document is

The rule comes from Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, kept in UK law after leaving the EU: when a construction product is covered by a designated standard, the manufacturer must draw up a declaration of performance when the product is placed on the market. Floor coverings are covered. For resilient, textile, laminate and modular multilayer floor coverings the designated standard is EN 14041; for wood flooring and parquet it is EN 14342, which defines the characteristics and test methods of flat-surface wood flooring and sets the rules for evaluating conformity and marking it.

The declaration is not a datasheet and not a warranty. A datasheet can say what the marketing department likes; the declaration states declared performances against a named standard and carries the manufacturer's name and the product's identification code. A warranty is a promise about the future; the declaration is a statement about the product as tested.

UKCA or CE: what the mark on the box means

A product with a declaration of performance carries a conformity mark. For the Great Britain market that is UKCA or CE: on 2 September 2024 the government confirmed that the CE mark continues to be accepted for construction products, and GOV.UK gives no end date for that recognition. So a box marked CE is not an out-of-date box, and a box marked UKCA is not a better one. Either mark says the same thing: a declaration exists, and the manufacturer stands behind it.

The lines on a floor covering's declaration

Under EN 14041 the essential characteristics declared for a floor covering are reaction to fire, the content of pentachlorophenol, formaldehyde emission, slip resistance, electrical behaviour in its three forms (antistatic, dissipative and conductive), thermal conductivity, and water-tightness. Each line carries either a declared class or value, or the letters NPD.

Reaction to fire

Floor coverings are classified in their own series, marked by the subscript fl: A1fl, A2fl, Bfl, Cfl, Dfl, Efl and Ffl. The fl is what tells you the class is a flooring class rather than a wall or ceiling class, and smoke production is given as an additional classification after it. A laminate declaration might therefore read Cfl-s1: the fire class, then the smoke class.

Formaldehyde emission

For wood-based products, laminate among them, the class is E1: a product in that class releases no more than 0.1 ppm of formaldehyde into the air around it, determined by the chamber method of EN 717-1. The E1 class belongs to wood-based products; a rigid vinyl floor with a polymer core declares whatever its own test found, so read the line rather than assuming.

Slip resistance

The method behind this line is EN 13893, which measures the dynamic coefficient of friction of resilient, laminate and textile floor coverings walked on with shoes, on dry surfaces only. That last clause matters: the declaration's slip line says nothing about the floor when it is wet. The pendulum test the Health and Safety Executive uses for slip potential is a different measurement, and the slip resistance guide sets the two side by side.

Thermal conductivity

Stated in W/mK, and the line that matters over underfloor heating. The limit that a heating system's designer works to is usually expressed the other way round, as thermal resistance: floor coverings over a warm-water system are normally limited to a thermal resistance of 0.15 m²K/W, the figure also used as the worst permissible case for dimensioning a system in a dwelling. The underfloor heating guide has the rest of the arithmetic.

Water-tightness, pentachlorophenol, electrical behaviour

Declared where the manufacturer has tested for them, NPD where not. A domestic buyer rarely needs the electrical lines; a buyer for a room with sinks and showers should read the water line, and read the product's own description alongside it, because a floor is only ever listed as waterproof by its maker, and the declaration is where that listing has to be backed.

NPD is not a fail

NPD stands for no performance determined. It means the manufacturer has not declared that characteristic. An NPD against water-tightness on a laminate declaration is not a hidden warning; it is a manufacturer declining to make a claim that the product standard for laminate, EN 13329, does not support, since that standard does not cover areas subject to frequent wetting. What you cannot do is treat NPD as a pass. If a characteristic matters to your room, buy a product that declares it.

What the declaration leaves out

The use class is not on it. EN ISO 10874 classifies floor coverings by area and intensity of use, with 21 to 23 for domestic use, 31 to 34 for commercial and 41 to 43 for industrial, and the product standards build their own classifications on that system. The class is stated on the product's technical sheet or packaging, not on the declaration. The same is true of a laminate's abrasion class, a vinyl's wear layer thickness and an oak board's grade: these are product-standard characteristics and trade descriptions, and the declaration is silent on them. The two documents answer different questions. The declaration answers whether the product may be sold as a construction product and what regulated performances it has; the datasheet answers whether it is the right floor for your room.

What the listings in the range show

A product listing is the datasheet layer, and the range's listings carry the characteristics a buyer compares: the twelve laminate boards list abrasion class AC4 and a 25-year manufacturer's warranty, the 36 rigid vinyl floors list a 0.3 mm or 0.55 mm wear layer, the five wall panels state their fire rating against EN 13501-1 and their manufacture in Belgium, and the eleven porcelain tiles are listed with a water absorption ratio below 0.50 per cent and Spanish manufacture. None of that is the declaration itself. If the regulated line is the one you need, for a building control query, a landlord's file or a commercial fit-out, ask for the declaration of performance before you order and read the line you care about. It is the manufacturer's document, it names the standard, and it is the version of the claim that counts.

Common questions

Is a CE-marked floor still legal to sell in Great Britain?

Yes. On 2 September 2024 the government confirmed that the CE mark continues to be accepted for construction products on the Great Britain market, alongside UKCA, and no end date has been given for that recognition.

What does NPD mean on a declaration of performance?

No performance determined: the manufacturer has not declared that characteristic. It is neither a pass nor a fail. If the characteristic matters for your room, choose a product that declares it.

Does the slip line on the declaration cover a wet kitchen floor?

No. The method behind it, EN 13893, measures the dynamic coefficient of friction on dry surfaces only. Wet slip potential is assessed with the pendulum test, which is a separate measurement with its own scale.

Where is the AC rating or the use class?

On the product's technical sheet or packaging. They come from the product standards, EN 13329 for laminate and EN ISO 10874 for use classes, and are not essential characteristics under EN 14041, so the declaration does not carry them.

Does a wood floor have a declaration too?

Yes. Wood flooring and parquet fall under EN 14342, which defines their characteristics and test methods and sets the rules for evaluating conformity and marking. The declared lines differ from those of a resilient or laminate floor.

Which document a buyer needs depends on the building as much as the room: a landlord's file in a block of flats asks different questions from a family house. Browse by town and region.

What the published standards say

Each entry is quoted from its source and linked to it. The full set is in the standards reference.

Declaration of Performance and UKCA marking

A construction product covered by a designated standard, which is the case for floor coverings under EN 14041, may only be placed on the Great Britain market with a declaration of performance drawn up by the manufacturer. For the GB market the accepted marking is UKCA or CE: on 2 September 2024 the government confirmed that the CE mark continues to be available for construction products, and GOV.UK gives no end date for that recognition.

Marking accepted in Great Britain for a construction product	UKCA or CE
Date of the ministerial statement confirming continued CE recognition for construction products	2 September 2024

“When a construction product is covered by a designated standard or conforms to a UK Technical Assessment which has been issued for it, the manufacturer shall draw up a declaration of performance when such a product is placed on the market.”

Source: Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 (assimilated), Article 4 - Declaration of performance · second source

BS EN 14041 — essential characteristics that must be declared

Under EN 14041 the essential characteristics declared for resilient, textile, laminate and modular multilayer floor coverings are reaction to fire, content of pentachlorophenol, formaldehyde emission, slip resistance, electrical behaviour (antistatic, dissipative, conductive), thermal conductivity and water-tightness. Characteristics that are not declared are shown as NPD (no performance determined).

Essential characteristic 1	Reaction to fire
Essential characteristic 2	Content of Pentachlorophenol
Essential characteristic 3	Formaldehyd Emissions
Essential characteristic 4	Slip resistance
Essential characteristic 5	Electrical behavior (dissipative)
Essential characteristic 6	Electrical behavior (conductive)
Essential characteristic 7	Electrical behavior (antistatic)
Essential characteristic 8	Thermal conductivity W/mK
Essential characteristic 9	Water-tightness

“Reaction to fire | Cfl-s1 | EN 14041: 2004/AC:2006”

Source: SLAETTEN laminate flooring — Declaration of Performance, IKEA of Sweden

Euroclass — reaction to fire

Floor coverings are classified for reaction to fire in a separate flooring series identified by the subscript fl: A1fl, A2fl, Bfl, Cfl, Dfl, Efl and Ffl. The fl in the designation is what marks the class as a flooring class; smoke production is given as an additional classification.

Flooring class 1	A1fl
Flooring class 2	A2fl
Flooring class 3	Bfl
Flooring class 4	Cfl
Flooring class 5	Dfl
Flooring class 6	Efl
Flooring class 7	Ffl

“Classes of reaction to fire performance for floorings”

Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/364 on the classification of the reaction to fire performance of construction products, Annex (as retained in UK law)

Emission class E1 — formaldehyde

E1 is the formaldehyde emission class used for wood-based products including laminate flooring; an E1 product releases no more than 0.1 ppm of formaldehyde, and the emission is determined by the chamber method of EN 717-1.

E1 limit	0.1 ppm

“Engineered wood products classified as E1 do not emit more than 0.1 ppm of formaldehyde into the ambient air.”

Source: OSB with Emission Class E1 - What Does This Mean? — SWISS KRONO

BS EN 13893 — slip resistance, dry conditions

EN 13893 sets the parameters for measuring the dynamic coefficient of friction of resilient, laminate and textile floor coverings walked on with shoes; the result is a dynamic coefficient of friction and the measurement is taken on dry surfaces only.

measured quantity	dynamic coefficient of friction (u)
relief floor coverings included up to displacement volume	4 cm3/dm2

“This European standard specifies the parameters for the measurement of dynamic coefficient of friction (u) on surfaces of resilient, laminate and textile floor coverings, usually walked on with shoes. Reliefed floor coverings with a displacement volume <= 4 cm3/dm2 are included.”

Source: BS EN 13893:2002 - Resilient, laminate and textile floor coverings. Measurement of dynamic coefficient of friction on dry floor surfaces (British Standard)

Thermal resistance of the floor covering

Floor coverings over a warm water underfloor heating system are normally limited to a thermal resistance of R(λ,B) ≤ 0.15 m2K/W, which is also the worst permissible case used for system dimensioning in dwellings.

maximum thermal resistance of floor covering (R lambda,B)	0.15 m2K/W

“The following types of floor coverings can be laid on Uponor surface heating/cooling systems if a maximum thermal resistivity of Rλ,B ≤ 0,15 m²K/W is observed and approved by the manufacturer”

Source: Uponor underfloor heating/cooling — Planning information (Technical Information TI-1186660)

EN ISO 10874 — use classes

EN ISO 10874 sets out a classification of floor coverings by area and intensity of use; the classes are 21, 22 and 23 for domestic use, 31 to 34 for commercial use and 41 to 43 for industrial use.

Class 21	Domestic moderate/light
Class 22	Domestic general/medium
Class 23	Domestic heavy
Class 31	Commercial moderate
Class 32	Commercial general
Class 33	Commercial heavy
Class 41	Industrial moderate
Class 42	Industrial general
Class 43	Industrial heavy

“In EN ISO 10874 a classification system for different use classes is described, with references to the relevant product standards.”

Source: How to use the Floor Covering Standard Symbols (FCSS) — EUFCA, symbols per EN 15398

BS EN 14342 — wood flooring and parquet: characteristics and marking

BS EN 14342 defines the characteristics, requirements and test methods for flat-surface wood flooring and parquet used as internal flooring, and sets the evaluation-of-conformity and marking rules for these products.

“BS EN 14342 defines and specifies the relevant characteristics and requirements of flat surface wood flooring products and parquets as well as the appropriate test methods for determination of their suitability for use as internal flooring, including fully enclosed public transport premises.”

Source: BS EN 14342:2013 - Wood flooring and parquet. Characteristics, evaluation of conformity and marking

BS EN 13329 — laminate floor coverings

BS EN 13329 specifies the characteristics, requirements and test methods for laminate floor coverings with a surface layer based on aminoplastic thermosetting resins, including requirements for marking and packaging. It also contains a classification system based on EN ISO 10874 for areas and levels of use, and it does not cover areas subject to frequent wetting such as bathrooms, laundry rooms or saunas.

“BS EN 13329 specifies characteristics, requirements, and test methods for laminate floor coverings with a surface layer based on amino plastic thermosetting resins. BS EN 13329 specifies requirements for marking and packaging.”

Source: BS EN 13329:2016+A2:2021 | 31 Oct 2021 | BSI Knowledge

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