Piping systems and components in water installations - Health-related requirements

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01. Frontpage 02. Taps, showers, shower systems and hose sets 03. Piping systems of plastic and metals for water for human consumption 04. Fittings, valves and devices 05. Wet rooms membranes 06. Floor gullies 07. Pipes and fittings for draining and sewerage 08. District heating pipes 09. Approval and certification schemes 10. Health-related requirements

For products and components in contact with drinking water, there are requirements to that the leaching of harmful substances and release of taste and odour into the drinking water do not exceed the permissible limit values.

Approval and certification schemes covering health-related requirements:

GDV (Approved for Drinking Water): An approval scheme covering products in contact with drinking water in domestic installations. The scheme is administered by the Danish Social and Housing Agency.

New EU legislation

GDV approvals will cease when the regulations, directives and acts of the European Communities for the marketing of products in contact with drinking water are implemented.

EU act on conformity assessment

A new EU regulation under the Drinking Water Directive will soon come into effect and will apply from 1 January 2027. This means that anyone who wishes to market products in contact with drinking water after 1 January 2027 and does not have an approval, must comply with the EU regulation instead of applying for a GDV approval. The GDV Secretariat will continue to issue 5-year approvals until 1 January 2027. Approvals already issued will remain valid until the expiration date.

DK-VAND: A voluntary certification scheme for pipes, fittings and tanks made from plastic materials used in the supply networks. The scheme is administered by Dancert.
UBA Attention of Conformity of Product Hygiene Suitability for Drinking Water (AoC): A German certification scheme that includes all products used in drinking water supply and domestic installations. The German Environment Agency, Umweltbundesamt (UBA), has developed evaluation criterias (BWGL) describing the general requirements of the German Drinking Water Ordinance, TrinkwV, for materials in contact with drinking water. Conformity certification can be issued by various certification bodies such as DVGW CERT GmbH, Hy-Cert, OFI CERT, Eurofins Expert Services Oy and Kiwa. An UBA Attestation of Conformity (AoC) also provides access to the Danish market. (Option No. 2)

Legislation and regulations in Denmark and EU

BEK No. 1007 of 29 June 2016 - Executive Order on the Marketing and Sale of Construction Products in Contact with Drinking Water. Read about it here.

If a building component is to be sold and placed on the market in Denmark, it must be covered by at least one of the following approvals or certificates:

A Danish GDV approval
An approval according to the German regulations
An ATA approval/the KIWA Water Mark from the Netherlands
A Swedish type approval issued by either RISE and/or KIWA Sweden

The documentation can cover the building component as a whole or for the wetted sub-components of which the construction product consists of.

BEK No. 940 of 22 July 2024 - Executive Order on Water Quality and Supervision of Water Supply Systems. Read about it here.
Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of drinking water. Read about it here. You can find the corresponding documents here: Implementing acts, Guidance documents, Understanding the Drinking Water Directive.