At the start
It all began in the year 1983.
The adjudicative authorities had, and still have, the legal obligation of controlling that products integrated on road works meet to the requirements defined by specifications. Administrators as well as building contractors felt concerned about, but they generally had no time and no experience enough to fulfil the task competently.
According to the Belgian decree on "general building conditions" the task could be delegated to an impartial organism.
For that purpose, the two groups concerned worked on and created an (independent) impartial organism of control.
- The first group involved was formed by the Belgian authorities, and the representatives of the three Belgian political Regions.
- The second group consisted of the Federation of building contractors for road works.
This is how COPRO was born!
Mission statement
An organisation’s mission statement sets out both its raison d’être and its identity. A mission statement is timeless and is not always subject to debate.
Just to be clear, a short, understandable description of the mission, vision and objectives was determined.
For the “mission statement”, this is:
“Why we’re here”
Although “Vision” is at the top of the agenda for many organisations, “Goal” is our starting point. This is because COPRO’s mission statement has already been laid down.
COPRO’s work involves organising, coordinating, harmonising and promoting quality in the construction sector, particularly by means of quality control on construction products and how they are treated, the latter at the project owner’s request.
In a nutshell: “to organise, coordinate, harmonise and promote quality in the construction sector”
Values
An organisation’s fundamental values act as a kind of moral compass and lie at the very heart of its business culture.
These are moral goals or ideals that we pursue and appreciate, and which also provide motivation.
“What we believe in”
COPRO’s values are impartiality, integrity, skill and reliability.
Vision
Vision gives a visionary, ambitious idea of what an organisation would like to be and, above all, how it wants to achieve this.
“What we want to achieve and how we go about achieving it”
COPRO’s vision is to step the general quality of infrastructure projects up a gear by ensuring that construction products and applications obtain a qualitative added value that meets the customer’s expectations. We accomplish this by certifying and/or inspecting or checking the processes linked to these products and their applications in a structured, rational and economical way.
This added value lies in the fields of quality, durability and sustainability, whilst at the same time promoting health, safety and the environment. All necessary attention is paid to the working conditions and safety of our members of staff.
In a nutshell: “to provide construction products that meet expectations with added value by certifying and carrying out checks on products and their applications”
Goals
These are the desired long-term results of our vision
“What we want to achieve” based on three cornerstones:
Performance
Service excellence
- using certification to promote quality
- continuing to be recognised as THE standard in terms of impartiality, integrity, skill and reliability
- operating efficiently within the legislative and regulatory framework
- strengthen partnerships working with other bodies
- developing services in support of project owners and contractors
People
Social excellence
- looking after the well-being of staff and contacts
- managing general and individual knowledge
- New Work
Planet
Sustainable excellence
Integrating durability (sustainability + durability):
- in our work
- in the way we operate
Reports & Magazines
General Assembly
Effective Members
Public Institutions:
- Brussels-Capital Region
- Flemish Region
Building contractors:
- The Belgian federation of building contractors for road works
Affiliated Members:
- Aquafin
- Labo Devlieger - Van Vooren
- Laborex groep
- Nevul
COPRO is an impartial organism and a non-profit-making organization.
The General Assembly is the “upper representative“ of COPRO. It consists of effective members and affiliated members.
The “effective” members are legal personae that belong to one of the two founder groups.
The public institutions, that is the representatives of the Flemish and Brussels-Capital Regions, represent 50 % of the votes. They choose the president of the General Assembly.
The building contractors represent 50 % of the votes as well. They choose the vice-president of the General Assembly. At the present time, this group is represented by la FBEV- de BFAW (The Belgian federation of building contractors for road works).
Other legal personae can become affiliated members of COPRO on proposition of the General Assembly, however without getting the right to vote.
Board of directors
Public Institutions
| Flemish Region | Dhr. Filip Boelaert - President |
|
Mr. Pieter De Winne |
|
| Mr. Tim Lonneux | |
| Brussels-Capital Region | Ms. Ilse Wuyts |
Building Contractors
| Belgian federation of building contractors for road works (la FBEV- de BFAW) | Mr. Didier Block |
| Mr. Bernard Cornez | |
| Mr. Olivier D'Hondt | |
| Ms. Joëlle Eggermont | |
| Mr. Luc Geeroms | |
| Mr. David Lamy | |
| Mr. Tom Willemen - Vice-president |
COPRO is managed by a Board of Directors.
The Directors are chosen by:
- The public institutions and
- The building contractors
Every group represents 50% of the votes.
External organisation
External organisation
Impartiality
The structure of COPRO as a 'third party' guarantees its independence vis-à-vis the parties that avail themselves of it. COPRO's statutory objective also excludes it from itself being the designer, supplier, purchaser, owner or user of the products in relation to which it is called on or involved as such or from acting as a representative for these products.
The impartiality of COPRO is guaranteed by the constitution of its organs:
- General Assembly
- Board of Directors
- Governing committee
Administrative
The impartiality of COPRO is confirmed by the FPS-Economy and is audited by BELAC (Belgian Organization for Accreditation).
To ensure the expertise and independence of its certification activities, COPRO has established several committees, including a supervisory Advisory Committee and various sectoral commissions.
The Advisory Committee is composed of representatives of all demonstrably interested and knowledgeable parties active in the sector.
A special sectoral commission shall be established for each Implementing Regulation, and therefore for each product, which is responsible for managing and monitoring the use of the COPRO or BENOR mark for the product in question.
This specialised technical sectoral commission deals with the technical aspects of certification, determines the rules to be applied to a specific COPRO or BENOR certification (by preparing and modifying the Technical Prescriptions and Application Regulations), and the desired level of quality for which the COPRO or BENOR mark must act as guarantor.
The sectoral commission is composed of representatives of all the demonstrably interested and knowledgeable parties in the area of the product in question.
The Advisory Committee has the task of ensuring the impartiality of the activities of the certification body through, e.g.:
- advice on the independent operation of the various sectoral commissions;
- advice on the impartiality of the certification activities of the certification body;
- advice on the objectivity and feasibility and reliability of the certification activities of the certification body;
- advice on the identified risks and the measures taken with regard to impartiality and potential conflicts of interest.
COPRO is
- the holder of the certification marks COPRO for building products, COPRO.EXE for execution, NTMB for ecological and technical-natural materials and NIWE for nature-inclusive design
- accredited by BELAC as inspection body (nr. 107-INSP), as products certification body (nr. 107-PROD) and as certification body for quality systems (nr. 107-QMS)
- notified by Europe for CE-marking as notified body nr. 1137
- recognised by BENOR npo as sector body
- recognised by NBN as sector operator
- recognized by OVAM as certification body for asbestos
- recognized by OVAM as certification body for recycled granulates
- certified by VLAREL for the sampling of building materials and asbestos in heaps
- recognised by BUtgb as mandated certification institute
- recognised by SKAO as a certificate body for the system certification of the CO2 Performance Ladder