Firestop - What is an ETA?

An ETA otherwise known as a European Technical Assessment (ETA) is a favorable technical assessment for a construction product considering its fitness for an intended use, based on the products fulfilment of essential characteristics, verified by testing according to the relevant EN test standards. It is considered as a complete standalone document that gives you testing results of all conducted testing on the product. 

So if a harmonised EN (hEN) is not available, then a construction product may also be CE-marked via the EAD-route. 

The European Assessment Document (EAD) is a harmonised technical specification for construction products. It is developed by the European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA) for cases where a product is not fully covered by harmonised European standards (hEN). EADs are the basis for issuing European Technical Assessments (ETA).

The document contains: 

•  a general description of the construction product 
• the list of essential characteristics agreed between the manufacturer and EOTA 
• the methods and criteria for assessing the performance of the product in relation to these essential characteristics 
• principles for factory production control to be applied 

Pic 1: Process flow for EAD issue (European Technical Assessment) 
Based on EAD and EN standards, accredited labs perform tests on the product to confirm compliance to EN norms. This generates the Classification Report (based on test reports from labs). Besides test reports, accredited labs or notified bodies also generate classification reports. 
 
A classification report is broadly a compilation of all the findings from many individual tests. It is the interpretation of the test findings in a conclusive way containing all possible results corresponding to a product and testing parameters. A “Classification” for a firestopping product is expressed as e.g. EI 90, EI 120, …. 
 
 

Pic 2: Sample ETA for Firestop Sleeve CFS-SL GA 
 
An ETA is developed by extracting relevant information from the classification report by independent TABs (Technical Assessment Bodies) and based on EAD. It contains succinct or selective information like fire rating, range of all possible sizes and material for both product and barriers, penetrants etc. In correlation with the EAD, ETA is an answer sheet containing the performance evaluation data for all the parameters mentioned in EAD. 
 
An ETA (document) forms the basis for the manufacturer to issue a DoP as per CPR and thus obtain CE marking for the product. To get a CE marking, a manufacturer must undergo third party quality and production control as well. You can refer to our article on DoP and CE marking. 
 
If testing laboratories conduct any additional testing on a product that is authorised by the manufacturer, the manufacturer will then notify EOTA and present the results or an updated classification report. Based on the updated classification report, EOTA issues a revised version of the said ETA with a revision date. 
 
HILTI has a wide variety of ETAs for a wide variety of firestop products and its variants that we sell in European markets. Also, external surveillance as well as internal testing programs are an essential part of Hilti's quality assurance system. This allows us to obtain revised ETAs on a frequent basis. 

 If you would like to know more about HILTI and what we can offer you, please visit the following pages: 

1. Article- DoP and CE markings 
2. Article- How to read an ETA? 
3. Visit our Hilti online shop to see what Firestop products are available now