What actually changed in 2026
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is the EU-wide law that governs how construction products can be placed on the single market. It has been around since 2011 — but the revision known as Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 has applied since 8 January 2026 (it entered into force in January 2025). It replaces the 2011 rules step by step; both regimes run side by side until 2040. It lands on top of two other EU frameworks — the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
For an electrical contractor bidding on a commercial fit-out or a public tender in Germany, France, Netherlands, or Austria, the practical impact is threefold:
- Environmental data becomes mandatory family by family, starting with Global Warming Potential (GWP), as each product family moves to the new rules.
- The EU registry behind the Digital Product Passport opened in July 2026; passports become mandatory product group by product group, starting with batteries in 2027.
- The Declaration of Performance (DoP) has to carry richer, verifiable data once a product family moves to the new rules.
Who is actually on the hook
CPR primarily regulates manufacturers — the firms that make construction products. For electrical work today that mainly means power, control and communication cables. But the practical burden lands squarely on contractors and installers, for one simple reason: you are the one submitting the bid, and the client will hold you responsible for the compliance of the products you specify.
If the cable you quote has no valid Declaration of Performance, your bid can be disqualified — even if the price is the best.
Many tenders ask for compliance data with the bid; where they do, missing it can mean exclusion.
The GWP declaration — the first real bite
The new DoP must declare Global Warming Potential (GWP) once a product family moves under the new CPR. That is happening family by family from 2026 onward, and power cables are not scheduled before 2029. Until then, GWP for electrical products usually comes from the tender specification, not the law.
Where the GWP value comes from
Today the number usually comes from the manufacturer's Environmental Product Declaration (EPD); under the new CPR it will be calculated with the method and software the Commission sets. As a contractor, you don't compute it — but you do have to collect it from your suppliers and pass it into the bid.
Digital Product Passport — registry live since July 2026
The registry is live, but no passport is yet required for cables, panels or switchgear. For construction products it follows a Commission delegated act, with 18 months to comply. Some tenders already ask for product data that will later sit in the passport.
The passport will carry the Declaration of Performance (including environmental data), instructions and a unique product ID. The biggest headache for contractors is not the concept — it is the data plumbing: pulling DPP IDs from a dozen supplier systems and stitching them into a bid packet.
Contractor checklist for 2026 bids
When your team prepares an electrical bid in 2026 — and every bid from now on — walk through this list before you hit “send”:
- Confirm the DoP for every specified product includes a GWP declaration if the category is in scope.
- Ask suppliers whether a product passport exists yet, and record it where it does.
- Store the underlying Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) in your bid packet.
- Cross-check that every CPR product has a valid DoP and CE marking — a supplier saying “yes” is not evidence.
- Add a compliance summary section to the bid itself. Public procurement officers will look for it.
How ScopeSense helps
ScopeSense reads your project drawings and specifications and surfaces the CPR / DPP obligations automatically, item by item. When your specification asks for a GWP declaration for cables, ScopeSense flags it and reminds you to request it from the supplier — before the bid goes out.
The point is not to replace compliance work — it is to make sure no compliance requirement quietly falls off a spreadsheet at 2 AM the night before a bid deadline.