General

The DAU, Document of Assessment for fitness of Use, is the statement of a favorable opinion on the performances of an innovative product or system regarding its intended uses and defined constructive solutions, within the field of building and civil engineering construction.

A DAU assesses the fitness for the intended use of a constructive solution on the basis of objective levels or required limit values for building works and on functional requirements established case by case.

DAU are done and granted by ITeC which, according to the Resolution of Spanish Ministry of Housing from 3 September 2010, is included in the General Register of CTE Authorized Organisms as an approved body for the granting of DAU as technical assessment for innovative products and systems.

Link to the CTE Register’s inscription

In general, DAU are referred to the field of Spanish regulations. If required, other regulatory frameworks (geographical or by sector) may also be considered particularly for each product.

The Spanish regulatory framework for buildings is established by the LOE – Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación which defines the basic requirements for construction works together with CTE – Spanish Building Technical Code-. Other regulatory orders approved by Spanish Administration are to be considered within the field of Civil engineering.

The DAU focuses on performances and objectives with a harmonized technical language, for describing and typifying the characteristics of products according to the current expression of performance to basic requirements in regulations in force.

The DAU is a means for encouraging innovation and technological development in the building sector, since it assesses the fitness for use of innovative products and systems without a regulatory framework. Likewise, the DAU eases the marketing of innovative or non-traditional products on the basis of documented and recognized technical criteria.