9. Cement standardization

9.1 History of European standardization

European standardization work on cements began in 1969, on a completely voluntary basis, between the six countries that signed the Treaty of Rome. From 1973 onwards, work continued within the framework of CEN, within Technical Committee 51 (cement and building lime). The aim of the work was twofold: to draw up common testing standards for all member countries, and to draft product specification standards.

Testing standards were adopted in 1987 and 1989. By 1990, the performance of all cements was assessed in the same way in all CEN member countries, a decisive step towards simplifying cross-border trade.

The adoption of the Construction Products Directive (CPD) in 1989 led to the rejection of a draft...