ITeC around the world

Construction products around the world

Construction is becoming an increasingly global market, and construction products are no exception. Spain has witnessed an increase of imports of construction materials of nearly 40% during the 2009-2019 decade, while exports have expanded a staggering 65%. ITeC has been working for a long time in each of the two directions of this growing flow of products:

How can ITeC help foreign companies interested in the Spanish market?

We often come across products manufactured in other countries that experience difficulties entering the Spanish market. The reasons may differ from case to case:

It can be a legal or regulatory problem. ITeC can perform an assessment of the regulatory requirements for identifying the legal barriers that a particular construction product faces. Based on this diagnosis, we offer tailored solutions: adapting the original product certification or background testing to the European or Spanish regulations, guiding the product through the process of compulsory certification (CE marking, declaration of performance), voluntary certification (ETA, DAU, Apto) or verification of constancy of performance.

But the problem could be also one of market strategy. ITeC can carry out market studies to measure the present situation of demand and supply for a specific product or family of construction products, to assess the extent of the competition that is facing, or to fully understand what factors are influencing the product choices and turn a given product into a sales hit.

In those cases where the product is not yet fully developed, ITeC can join in the final stages of development and provide innovation support services to fine-tune the new product for a better fit in the market.

Finally, ITeC can also contribute to the task of dissemination of the products, adding them to our databases and BIM libraries. This is an effective way to reach out to the professionals that are looking for materials for their projects.

How can ITeC help Spanish companies interested in foreign markets?

Barriers to export are also usually legal and regulatory issues. In principle, the movement of construction products through the European Union countries should be free, but it is prudent nevertheless to anticipate potential problems seeking EOTA’s advice. ITeC is an active member that is enrolled in EOTA’s Technical Council and in different horizontal Working Groups and Ad hoc Groups. Our Reports of ITeC EOTA Office provide information on the relevant developments coming from EOTA that shape the European market of construction products.

Manufacturers that want to enter new markets should also be familiar with the European Technical Assessment (ETE) and CE marking processes.

On an extra-European scale, ITeC works in cooperation with Applus and its international network, which facilitates experimental testing in more than 50 countries.

ITeC also tracks the market situation in the rest of Europe through its participation in the Euroconstruct network as a representative of Spain. Euroconstruct reports are an efficient instrument for checking the levels of construction activity (building, renovation and civil engineering) in 19 European countries, and also for anticipating how these markets will evolve, with highly detailed forecasts.

Construction projects around the world

ITeC’s methodology for managing building and civil engineering projects has been in the market for more than 30 years and has passed tests as demanding as those of the construction works for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. All this know-how has not gone unnoticed and different public procurement bodies from other countries (Colombia, Ecuador) are using ITeC’s TCQ methodology for tendering projects, evaluating and awarding the bids, and then monitor both the execution of the projects and their maintenance routines, using the same set of tools for the whole process.

ITeC is also in close contact with experts and organizations around the world that are leading the adoption of collaborative methodologies such as BIM, Lean Construction or Integrated Project Management (IPD). Other than adding them into ITeC’s own project management methodology, the Institute is committed to disseminating the success stories and the best practices found both in Spain and beyond.

Research around the world

ITeC also has experience in competitive research projects convened by the European Union, in which innovative products and services have been developed for the construction sector. By participating in these projects, ITeC collaborates with researchers and with R+D centers in the rest of Europe that are designing and testing the building solutions with the most potential to transform the market.