The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) [1] entered into full force on 1^st July 2013 [2]. The main objective of the CPR is to make the single market work better and improve the free movement of construction products in the EU [3].

CPR sets out the framework for the placing or making available on the market of construction products, by defining the harmonised rules for declaring the performance of construction products based on their essential characteristics and the use of CE marking on those products [1]. The objective of the CPR is to ensure the delivery of credible information for the construction products concerning their performances. In order to achieve the objective, a common technical language is used by manufacturers, i.e. the harmonised technical specifications developed under the CPR, in order to declare the product technical-characteristics’ performances when placing them on the market, and by public authorities and engineers when defining the technical requirements of works.

The common technical language is also providing the competent national authorities, i.e. the Market Surveillance Authorities (MSAs), the necessary tools for assessing the required characteristics of the construction products, by enabling them to carry out all the necessary document and physical checks [4]. CPR requires the mandatory establishment of market surveillance programmes for construction products, where the Member States should operate effective market surveillance to ensure an equivalent and consistent enforcement of Union harmonisation legislation [1].

Work has been done by the relevant committee, i.e. the Administrative Cooperation Group for CPR (AdCo-CPR), established in EU with 33 members (28 Member States and Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Turkey), for developing general principles to be followed for market surveillance of construction products, focusing on facilitating the efficient handling of cases as well as cross-border cooperation between MSA [5], as well as for the development of a risk assessment methodology for construction products in case of deviation from the declared performance [6]. However, currently, there are no specific guidelines for the management of the work of the MSAs for construction products.

There are available recommendations on a horizontal level to assist and enhance the management of market surveillance in Europe. These recommendations, although not dedicated to the market surveillance for construction products exclusively, can provide useful horizontal guidance and good practice in the field of market surveillance and they can contribute to a better understanding, uniform approach and consistent application of EU rules [7]. They outline the basic principles also followed in the implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS), e.g. the screening of the internal and external environment, the investigation of addressing the risks and opportunities and the monitoring and evaluation of the work of MSA.

The MSAs should perform market surveillance in a uniform and consistent way to assure equality before the law for all inspected businesses. Therefore MSAs should function under a pre-defined framework to minimise the risks for mistakes as well as to increase efficiency. For this reason, as it is recommended by the Best Practice Techniques in Market Surveillance [8], the application of QMS should be mandatory for MSAs, since it strengthens the position of MSA in court, when economic operators are challenging the MSA’s action with conflicting evidence.

ISO 9001 is internationally agreed as a valuable tool on good management practices in order to deliver consistent product and service quality, even in the unprecedented circumstances of the economic downturn under which they operate [9]. There is strong evidence to support that managers obtain ISO 9000 certification as a credible public signal of effective quality management practices [10], as well as to achieve operational and marketing advantages that affect expenses and profit [11, 12]. Also, certification is regarded as a supportive instrument to obtain authorised status of the supplier, by guaranteeing the constant fulfilment of the demands of the customer [13, 14]. Furthermore, companies regard certification as an instrument for national and global competition [15, 16], and those companies marketing their products in Europe or working closely with foreign partners can perceive a lower degree of difficulty in the implementation of ISO 9000 series demands [17]. Moreover, ISO 9001:2000 can enhance the quality of public service delivery from the perspective of external and internal customers [18].

There is an increasing interest in implementing ISO 9001 in the public sector or for services under the control of public authorities in general [18]. Nevertheless, there is evidence that many top managers in public organisations are encountering difficulties implementing ISO 9001, mainly due to difficulties arisen from a lack of knowledge of ISO requirements, as well as from experiencing strong resistance from employees [19]. It is also clear that merely adopting a QMS and maintaining the relevant certificates is not enough [18], as well as merely fulfilling a quality standard’s minimal requirements is insufficient [20]. In this way, the MSA should apply all the requirements only after thoroughly investigating the relevant issues and only after gaining a deep understanding of the processes, in order to use them as a strategic management tool to achieve superior organisational performance.

Based on CPR Article 67(2), the Commission prepared an Implementation Report on the CPR in 2016 through the engagement of an extensive stakeholder consultation on a variety of issues through technical platforms [21]. According to the findings of the Implementation Report, the perception among stakeholders was that currently the market surveillance of construction products on the Member-States markets is very restricted, and in fact, around one-third of companies would describe market surveillance as ‘non-existent’ in their country [21]. Cuts in public spending and insufficient funds are making it difficult for the MSAs to enhance market surveillance to the necessary level. This is reflected in the national reports concerning market surveillance activities for the years 2010 - 2013, whereas about half of the Member States, complain about a lack of sufficient resources [22].

In October 2019, the Commission published an updated report on the evaluation of CPR. Analysis of the effectiveness of CPR showed that cross-border trade of construction products has grown in the EU since the introduction of CPR and that stakeholders consider the role of CPR as positive towards this development. However, the Report acknowledges that the obstacles to the smooth functioning of the internal market remain. The main shortcomings identified are the insufficient performance of the standardisation system supporting the functioning of the system, the low uptake of simplification provisions, but also due to the less than active role of Member States in market surveillance. Although structures and mechanisms have been introduced, and cooperation has improved, market surveillance is considered as uneven and ineffective, undermining the system’s credibility. The Report concludes that these factors were the result of legal clarity, and for these reasons, an analysis of options to address the issues is required [23].

The Implementation Report of 2015 suggested that for reacting to this situation, the MSAs are called to examine and implement methods for more efficient prioritisation and organisation of market surveillance activities to overcome the constraints linked to limited resources, which affect all MSAs across EU administrations [2]. To this end, and to collect information on the current level of effectiveness of the organisational approach of the MSAs, it is imperative to collect information on the main relevant management activities of the MSAs, i.e. strategic analysis, risk assessment and performance measurement.

Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to close this gap by collecting information on these three core areas, which are fundamental tools of a quality management system, as described in ISO 9001:2015 [24]: with regards to strategic analysis the identification of the relevant key interested parties that could positively or negatively affect the MSAs ability to provide the requested services; for the risk assessment the performance of risk analysis and risk evaluation, in order to give assurance to achieve the intended results and at the same time prevent or reduce the undesired effects and achieve improvement; and concerning the performance measurement the planning of monitoring and measurement, in order to provide the MSAs with the confidence that they achieved the intended results. Information on the level of the MSAs activities in these areas, will provide valuable information on the effectiveness of the current management level achieved or whether there is significant room for improvement.

For the collection of information through a survey, the following research questions were formulated:

RQ1: What is the extent of market surveillance activities in the Single Market?

RQ2: What is the extent of interested parties analysis performed by the MSAs?

RQ3: What is the extent of the risk assessment performed by the MSAs?

RQ4: What is the extent of performance measurement performed by the MSAs?

The purpose of the survey was to examine information on the management of MSA and to identify whether such information is available or lacking. A research plan was formulated for identifying the decisions the research will support, as well as the necessary information needed, since defining decisions first is critical to getting the right information and designing the right study [25]. The plan was developed after performing qualitative research and by using market research guidelines. The questions were developed to be clear, answerable, straightforward and unbiased, and to this end, a pilot test was performed with the assistance of members of MSA for construction products of Cyprus.

The survey was addressed to all members participating in AdCo-CPR, who also comprise the target population. The members were firstly informed of the survey at the AdCo-CPR 22^nd meeting in November 2017 in Brussels, followed by a more detailed presentation at the 23rd meeting in May 2018 in Lisbon.

The final version of the questionnaire consisted of 26 questions. It was divided into five parts collecting information on: (i) the respondent and the relative country, (ii) analysis of interested parties and work environment of the MSA, (iii) the core competencies of human resources, (iv) analysis of risks and opportunities, and (v) monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation. In this way, the questionnaire was designed to investigate the extent of the strategy management (parts (ii), (iii)), the risk management (part (iv)) and the performance management (part (v)) established by the MSAs in the Single Market.

The survey was published on 7 May 2018 and was completed by 4 June 2018. Replies were kept confidential; thus, the identity of the respondents was not revealed. However, the survey collected valuable information presenting insight on the subject. The survey received responses from 29 countries and given the limited number of the total population, and by having a total of completed answers from 28 countries (i.e., from 25 out of 28 Member States as well as from Norway, Switzerland and Iceland), the result can be regarded as statistically significant.

The survey collected the views from members of AdCo-CPR; their opinion as to the formal representatives of MSA of their country has the merit to shed further light on the current relative management practices followed by the MSAs in the Single Market.

The findings of the survey performed for investigating management perspectives of the MSAs support the position that, in general, currently the market surveillance of construction products on the Member States markets is very restricted, as it can be extracted from the conclusions of the Implementation Report [21] in coordination with the reflection in the national reports concerning market surveillance activities for the years 2010 - 2013 [27] and the magnitude of the Single Market.

The survey also provided insight for the AdCo-CPR Members’ views on the current situation of the relevant management issues (i.e., strategic analysis, risk assessment, and performance measurement) of the MSAs. The responses revealed that although attention may have been given to some operational regions of the work of MSAs, the extent of strategic planning for identifying the factors affecting the ability of the MSA to deliver its intended results, and the extent of the risk assessment performed by the MSAs, following the principles and guidelines, are both low. In addition, the findings support that the measurement and control of parameters related to management issues of MSAs is not uniform and can be supported that monitoring of performance can also be considered as low.

The results of the survey suggest that there is room for improvement for more efficient prioritisation and organisation of market surveillance activities to overcome the constraints linked to limited resources, which affect all MSAs-cp across EU administrations [2], and this can be assisted by effectively implementing a QMS based on the ISO 9001. Based on the responses collected, none of the MSAs dedicated to construction products has performed analysis of the external and internal environment, followed by identification of risks and opportunities, the performance of risk analysis and risk evaluation. However, merely adopting a QMS and maintaining the relevant certificates, or even fulfilling a quality standard’s minimal requirements is not enough [18, 20]. It is concluded that the MSAs for construction products should consider implementing a QMS to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of market surveillance activities aiming to create public value. The implementation though should be developed only after a thorough investigation of the unique environment they operate, the relevant issues, and by gaining a deep understanding of the processes involved in order to use them as a strategic management tool to improve organisational performance.

One should note the expressed views from the AdCo-CPR members regarding the need for further guidance to the MSAs. For all the issues asked in the survey, the members replied with a score above the mean value, giving priority first to the need for guidance for the analysis of interested parties and work environment of MSA, followed by the need for guidance for the analysis of risks and opportunities, and then guidance on performance measurement. These findings suggest that further work is needed for expanding the knowledge and understanding of the necessary actions that need to be taken related to strategy, risk, and performance management of the MSAs, in order to enhance performance and effectiveness in the relative external and internal environment.

For these reasons, an in-depth research for the strategic analysis is being carried out to identify the relevant key interested parties and their behaviour, that could positively or negatively affect the MSA’s ability to provide the requested services, their requirements and expectations, as well as the external and internal issues relevant to MSA’s purpose that affect its ability to achieve the intended results. At the same time, an investigation to understand the various implications of performing risk assessment through a systematic analysis of the components of a QMS based on ISO 9001 is being performed, in order to provide more information on the vulnerabilities of the system and its subsystems, allowing the MSA to determine necessary changes and types of controls that should be made. Lastly, a performance measurement system is being developed, specially modified for government and non-profit organisations that can provide top managers a quick and clear strategic picture that highlights the areas of improvement or where intervention is required.

The above investigation is expected to contribute to the understanding of the fundamental management issues the MSA has to face by highlighting the importance of considering strategy analysis, risk assessment and performance measurement in the strategy-setting process. In this way, the MSAs could gain a better comprehension of how the relative considerations may affect the choice of strategy and provide insight for the development of a sustainable, efficient and effective market surveillance system.