New rules introducing European conformity marking for steel fabrications will bring an extra tier of quality management to the sector.

The European standard to be introduced to the sector (BS EN 1090-1) will cover the CE marking of fabricated steelwork and all those businesses that fabricate, weld or bend steel for use in the construction industry, a date for the finialisation if the mark is expected to be in May 2010.

The requirements will mean variations to existing quality management systems but with a greater emphasis on the quality of the final product than any of the existing quality systems currently in use.

"If companies already have the BS EN ISO 9001 Quality Management System up and running then they are 80% of the way to meeting requirements for a certified Factory Production Control system under the new standards," says David Moore, director of engineering at industry body the British Constructional Steelwork Association. "Existing systems will probably just need a little tailoring.

"It is all about producing the same product to the same quality and possessing the same properties time and again."