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German GEV Certification

      People are spending more and more time indoors. For this reason, the quality of indoor air and the level of emissions given off by materials installed on walls and floors are becoming increasingly important.

      It is true that facades today are increasingly well insulated and window joints hermetically sealed. But the ventilation habits of the buildings’ residents have not been adapted to the technical progress and the increasingly tight building shell.

      Emissions, particularly those from freshly applied paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants and other building materials, can cause the concentration of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air to rise alarmingly even days after the materials were installed.


      People are spending more and more time indoors. For this reason, the quality of indoor air and the level of emissions given off by materials installed on walls and floors are 

becoming increasingly important.

      It is true that facades today are increasingly well insulated and window joints hermetically sealed. But the ventilation habits of the buildings’ residents have not been adapted 

to the technical progress and the increasingly tight building shell.

      Emissions, particularly those from freshly applied paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants and other building materials, can cause the concentration of harmful volatile organic 

compounds (VOCs) in the air to rise alarmingly even days after the materials were installed.

      For this reason, renowned German flooring adhesives manufacturers decided to develop installation adhesives low in emissions and to aggressively promote them in the market. 

They set up GEV, the “Association for Emission-controlled Installation Materials e.V.” to establish a binding groundwork for this endeavour.

      Recognizing the needs to provide reliable guidance to consumers, professional craftsmen, planners, architects and retailers regarding the low-emission systems and technologies 

available on the market, EMICODE® was established, a registered, impartial classification system for flooring installation materials, and set up GEV as the licensing and supervisory 

body for this labelling scheme.

      In order to meet the market’s demand for testing additional product types, GEV was renamed in 2007 and is now called “Gemeinschaft Emissionskontrollierte Verlegewerkstoffe, 

Klebstoffe und Bauprodukte e.V.” (Association for the Control of Emissions in Products for Flooring Installation, Adhesives and Building Materials).

      Today, GEV has evolved into an internationally recognized institution which, thanks to its market-monitoring function, makes a key contribution to consumer and environmental 

protection as well as occupational health and safety.


Emission classes

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Products that are low in emissions are awarded the EMICODE® EC2 label. This class fulfils the basic requirements for being granted the EMICODE® label.

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The highest class EMICODE® EC1 has proven itself over many years as a standard for products that are very low in emissions. The materials awarded this label comply with very 

stringent health and environmental requirements.

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The premium class EMICODE® EC1PLUS  defines the limit of what is technically feasible today. Introduced in 2010, it sets even higher and stricter limit values than category EC1.

Licensable Products

-Liquid products

  • Undercoats / primers, sealing primers or barrier primers, water-based conductive coatings, reactive filler-free primers

  • Ready-to-use low-viscous tackifiers and adhesives (e.g. anti-slip coatings for self-laying floor coverings, roll-on tackifiers, spray adhesives, threadlocking adhesives,

    wood glues, dispersion-based additives for mineral tile mortars and levelling compounds, dispersion-based bonding courses (e.g. for bonded screeds)

  • Liquid membranes (e.g. reactive sealants, flexible sealing compounds), binders for synthetic resin screeds, casting resins, binders for granule flooring (e.g. quartz pebble flooring)

-Powdery products

  • Cement and calcium sulfate-based levelling compounds, repair fillers and mortars for concrete repairs

  • Cement- or mineral-based tile mortars (thin bed, medium-bed and thick bed mortars), cementitious grouts and cement-based masonry mortars

  • Quick cements

  • Screeds

  • Cement- or calcium sulfate-based screed mortars

  • Cement- or calcium sulfate-based screed binders

  • Powdery and liquid screed admixtures or concrete admixtures

  • Powdery adhesives (other than tile adhesives, but e.g. adhesives for parquet or linoleum)

  • Cementitious 1- and 2-component waterproofing slurries / bonded waterproofing (powder products), filling primers and filler primers

  • Powdery bonding courses (e.g. for bonded screeds)

-Pasty products

  • 1- and 2-component adhesives of pasty consistency for floor coverings and parquet, ready-to-use ceramic tile adhesives, assembly adhesives, pasty tackifiers for floor

    coverings, other pasty adhesives

  • Levelling compounds based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Waterproofing under tiles based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Grouts based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Synthetic resin roll-on coatings / top coats for floor coatings, reactive filled primers, self-levelling synthetic resin coatings for floors, liquid plastics for indoor applications

-Ready-to-use products that do not require chemical curing or physical drying

  • Underlays (e.g. impact sound insulation underlays, insulation underlays)

  • Underlays with an adhesive coating, adhesive tapes

  • Floor installation boards,  decoupling panels / insulation boards

  • Full-surface sealing tapes and sealing collars for small surfaces (e.g. for windows and facades, in wet areas), self-adhesive window sealing strips and door seals

  • Sealing membranes for large surfaces (e.g. for floors in wet areas), vapor retarders under the roof

-Sealants, insulation materials, sealing tapes

  • Joint sealants based on dispersions or reactive resins, chemical anchors

  • Assembly foams, insulation foams

  • Pre-compressed joint sealing tapes, joint sealing tapes made of foam

-Products for wooden floor surface treatments

  • Water-based lacquers for parquet and other interior wooden floor surface

  • Water-based joint fillers for parquet

  • Parquet oils

  • Water-based parquet primers

  • Water-based UV-curing lacquers for parquet

  • UV-curing lacquers for parquet (100 % solids content)

-Water-based lacquers, finishes and oils for other surfaces

  • Water-based lacquers for mineral floors

  • Water-based lacquers for resilient flooring

  • Oils for mineral floors

  • Water-based impregnation agents for mineral floors

  • Water-based UV-curing lacquers for resilient flooring

  • UV-curing lacquers for resilient flooring (100 % solids content)

-Products for wall application

  • Mineral- or gypsum-based base plasters for indoor applications

  • Mineral- or dispersion-based finishing plasters and top plasters for indoor application

  • Wall filler for thin-layer and partial applications

  • Wall panels

Licensable Products

-Liquid products

  • Undercoats / primers, sealing primers or barrier primers, water-based conductive coatings, reactive filler-free primers

  • Ready-to-use low-viscous tackifiers and adhesives (e.g. anti-slip coatings for self-laying floor coverings, roll-on tackifiers, spray adhesives, threadlocking adhesives,

    wood glues, dispersion-based additives for mineral tile mortars and levelling compounds, dispersion-based bonding courses (e.g. for bonded screeds)

  • Liquid membranes (e.g. reactive sealants, flexible sealing compounds), binders for synthetic resin screeds, casting resins, binders for granule flooring (e.g. quartz pebble flooring)

-Powdery products

  • Cement and calcium sulfate-based levelling compounds, repair fillers and mortars for concrete repairs

  • Cement- or mineral-based tile mortars (thin bed, medium-bed and thick bed mortars), cementitious grouts and cement-based masonry mortars

  • Quick cements

  • Screeds

  • Cement- or calcium sulfate-based screed mortars

  • Cement- or calcium sulfate-based screed binders

  • Powdery and liquid screed admixtures or concrete admixtures

  • Powdery adhesives (other than tile adhesives, but e.g. adhesives for parquet or linoleum)

  • Cementitious 1- and 2-component waterproofing slurries / bonded waterproofing (powder products), filling primers and filler primers

  • Powdery bonding courses (e.g. for bonded screeds)

-Pasty products

  • 1- and 2-component adhesives of pasty consistency for floor coverings and parquet, ready-to-use ceramic tile adhesives, assembly adhesives, pasty tackifiers for floor

    coverings, other pasty adhesives

  • Levelling compounds based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Waterproofing under tiles based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Grouts based on dispersions or reactive resins

  • Synthetic resin roll-on coatings / top coats for floor coatings, reactive filled primers, self-levelling synthetic resin coatings for floors, liquid plastics for indoor applications

-Ready-to-use products that do not require chemical curing or physical drying

  • Underlays (e.g. impact sound insulation underlays, insulation underlays)

  • Underlays with an adhesive coating, adhesive tapes

  • Floor installation boards,  decoupling panels / insulation boards

  • Full-surface sealing tapes and sealing collars for small surfaces (e.g. for windows and facades, in wet areas), self-adhesive window sealing strips and door seals

  • Sealing membranes for large surfaces (e.g. for floors in wet areas), vapor retarders under the roof

-Sealants, insulation materials, sealing tapes

  • Joint sealants based on dispersions or reactive resins, chemical anchors

  • Assembly foams, insulation foams

  • Pre-compressed joint sealing tapes, joint sealing tapes made of foam

-Products for wooden floor surface treatments

  • Water-based lacquers for parquet and other interior wooden floor surface

  • Water-based joint fillers for parquet

  • Parquet oils

  • Water-based parquet primers

  • Water-based UV-curing lacquers for parquet

  • UV-curing lacquers for parquet (100 % solids content)

-Water-based lacquers, finishes and oils for other surfaces

  • Water-based lacquers for mineral floors

  • Water-based lacquers for resilient flooring

  • Oils for mineral floors

  • Water-based impregnation agents for mineral floors

  • Water-based UV-curing lacquers for resilient flooring

  • UV-curing lacquers for resilient flooring (100 % solids content)

-Products for wall application

  • Mineral- or gypsum-based base plasters for indoor applications

  • Mineral- or dispersion-based finishing plasters and top plasters for indoor application

  • Wall filler for thin-layer and partial applications

  • Wall panels

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