UKCA AND CE MARKINGS 26

ON YOUR MARKS

Construction Products Regulation (CPR) 2013. For a product to be in scope it would need a harmonised EN product standard that had been listed in the Official Journal of the EU.

The necessary provisions of the European CPR were transferred into UK law by the Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 when the UK left the EU. Harmonised European standards such as the damper product standard became designated British Standards, listed on the Government website, and as such the mandatory requirement for CE/UKCA marking was retained. Once the UK left the EU on 31st December 2020, these products were required to be UKCA marked for the GB market, although the Government allowed a further transition period for CE marks to be accepted which was extended out to 31st December 2022.

As it stands at the moment, this means that only fire-resisting dampers and smoke control dampers have a harmonised EN/Designated BS product standard, which matches how the market uses the products. Therefore for these products, it is mandatory to attach a CE mark or a UKCA mark today, and once the Government puts in place the necessary steps to end CE marking, UKCA will be the sole acceptable mark for these products.

There are two special cases which need a little further consideration where a harmonised EN standard/designated BS standard exists, but does not necessarily mean that a product can be CE marked.

Firstly, fire-resisting and smoke control ducts cannot be CE marked if they are supplied in the normal form, where the metal duct is sent to site and insulation is added on site. In this instance, it is not possible to complete the necessary factory production control checks. Therefore, it is only possible to CE/UKCA mark single compartment smoke control duct sections, which do not require insulation to be added to the metal duct sections. This situation is covered in detail in ASFP’s Technical Guidance Document TGD20.

Secondly, it is mandatory to affix a CE/UKCA mark to an operable fabric curtain in certain circumstances. This is because the scope of the harmonised EN product standard EN 16034:2014 mentions “rolling shutters or operable fabric curtains used in retail premises which are mainly provided for the access of persons rather than vehicles or goods”.

EN 16034:2014 has also been given designated BS status, so if an active fire curtain is being used as described above, then it is necessary to attach a CE or a UKCA mark covering the fire resistance performance. Information on this topic can be found in ASFP Technical Guidance Document TGD21.

There is a further requirement to CE/UKCA mark active fire curtains, in order to comply with the provisions of the Machinery Directive. Further details on this requirement can be found in ASFP’s Advisory Note AN25.

Voluntary process

For the bulk of PFP product families, manufactured by ASFP members, CE marking was a voluntary process, carried out using the European Association for Technical Approvals (EOTA) route involving European Assessment Document product standards, leading to European technical assessments. This voluntary route was open to manufacturers of structural fire protection (boards, sprays and intumescent coatings), firestopping and cavity barriers.

For these products, the use of a CE mark historically, and the use of a UKCA mark now and for the immediate future is not mandatory, but a voluntary approach. Therefore even after 31st December 2022, these products can be placed on the GB market without a UKCA mark. ASFP members have long used third party certification as a route to show product consistency and safety. Third party certification is also recognised as one of the methods to achieve compliance with Approved Document 7, covering fitness of materials and workmanship.

There may be a future requirement for a mandatory conformity assessment mark, which would bring those product families currently under a voluntary scheme into the scope of mandatory marking. This was mentioned in the proposals regarding Safety Critical Products contained within the draft secondary legislation to the Building Safety Act, published in October 2021.

As a final point, it is worth considering that the Government’s advice on the transition between CE marking and UKCA marking of construction products was last updated in September 2022. The final point in the guidance states that “[Government] intend for this arrangement to end on 1 January 2023, which will require legislation. Businesses should ensure they are prepared for the new system before it comes into effect.”

However, as I type this article at the end of October 2022, there is no sign of such a piece of legislation and there are a number of construction product sectors in a position where there is no way that they will be able to comply with this requirement due to a lack of UK-based testing and certification bodies. The Construction Products Association and Construction Leadership Council have been advocating for a further extension to the 31st December 2022 deadline for some considerable time. There is a rumour that a Government announcement is imminent, but a rumour is all that we have as we go to press. Therefore, a blanket market demand for UKCA marking after 31st December 2022 is something that may well be the Government’s intention, but the legal framework is somewhat short of demanding this for many of the products within ASFP members’ portfolios.

To keep updated on UKCA and CE markings please visit www.asfp.org.uk/page/UKCAandCEMarkingUpdates

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