Market Surveillance
Boverket is the sole competent Authority in Sweden to perform Market Surveillance of Construction Products. We also conduct market surveillance on lifts and cableways.
Construction products
CE marking of construction products is a way to present the essential characteristics of the product. It is not a product safety label.
When performing market surveillance, we strive to act in a manner that helps businesses to comply with EU-law in a positive manner. We often test the performance of certain essential product characteristics and also check the required documentation for the product. The shortcomings we find may vary from an incorrect translation to a seriously dangerous product. If we find non-compliance, we notify the relevant economic operator to take appropriate measures to correct the shortcomings. This may be done by adjusting the documentation or when absolutely necessary, by removing the product from the market.
Our surveillance will only cover products that are available on the market. Market surveillance does not replace the continuous production control that is the duty of any manufacturer or the duties of a Notified Body according to EU-law.
Lifts and cableways
CE marking on lifts and cableways is a product safety labelling. Cableways cannot be CE marked in their entirety, and there are only safety components that should be CE marked. For elevators, both the completed installation of the elevator and safety components are CE marked.
The investigation
Boverket conducts market surveillance on products and product groups according to a specific plan. The board also investigates complaints about products that may come from the public, from competing companies, or from authorities in other countries within the EU's internal market.
The market surveillance might be focused on documentation, samplings, or of the declared performance of the products. In market surveillance due to a complaint, we mainly examine the product documentation, but we may extend the investigation to testing or calculations of the characteristics to see if they match the declared values.
The investigation can also refer to products under the Product Safety Act, especially concerning construction products not covered by the Construction Products Regulation. The Product Safety Act and the Construction Products Regulation have somewhat different purposes.
Locations and operators
Boverket may visit offices, factories and shops to exert market surveillance within the Swedish territory. Different economic operators have different roles, and therefore different requirements apply regarding tasks and documentation that should be available for the market surveillance authority. A manufacturer must have, for example, far more documentation than a distributor.
The product and its documentation shall not deteriorate when the product changes hands. Hence Boverket may surveil the same object with various economic operators.
Collaboration between agencies
Boverket cooperates with other Swedish authorities such as the Customs Administration, but also with the market surveillance authorities in other Member States. Furthermore, there are European cooperative groups between the European Commission and the market surveillance authorities for different product directives or regulations.
Would you like to report a concern with a product?
We don't have any formal requirements for reporting inquiries. It should however be in writing (by email or mail) and, for the Board to handle the inquiry, contain the following as a minimum;
- Product group and product name, commercial code or its equivalent which enables identification of the product,
- Company name (who manufactures the product/who distributes the product in Sweden?), and
- Reason for reporting the product (is it due to inadequacies in product documentation or product safety?).
It is also possible to include pictures or other relevant information. For instance, if you know that the product is covered by a harmonized standard, please indicate which standard.
Please note that the contact information used to report a product cannot be confidential.