Construction products intended for reuse must meet high standards, and low content of hazardous substances must be ensured. Materials are rarely reused in construction because the quality of these materials cannot be guaranteed. Reliable, standardized and up to date information on material characteristics and safety is lacking, and existing policies and regulations are not geared towards reuse.

Reusable construction materials call for new forms of technical and environmental documentation, and new ways to screen, map and sort valuable building products for reuse.

This work package uses the existing assessment system for new products as a starting point for developing a system geared towards reused materials. The research includes:

a) which properties must be assessed, which hazardous substances should be included into the evaluation scheme

b) assessment procedures, preferably non-destructive or minimally invasive

c) sampling frequencies and assessment frequencies

d) appropriate evaluation criteria for the intended use

e) risks connected to the erroneous acceptance of a material with unacceptable properties

The results are combined into a framework/guideline for testing and evaluation of content of hazardous substances.