In a letter to the Fire Sector Federation, which brings together all the UK’s diverse fire industries, Lord Greenhalgh, Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Communities, clarified the UK’s position on CE-marking and the the UKCA mark for construction products. This was in response to a letter from the FSF, requested by the EFSN and others.

The position of the EU has been clarified by the European Commission, only CE-marking based on tests by laboratories accredited in the EU is now acceptable. The UK will continue to accept the CE-mark until the end of 2021. After that, construction products covered by harmonised standards must carry the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark, which can only be awarded by laboratories accredited by the UK. We were looking for clarification as to whether British laboratories could accept test reports from laboratories in other countries. The minister wrote, ‚The UK’s position is that it is down to the individual UK body to decide whether to accept EU-issued type test reports to enable UKCA marking. We would recommend that your members get in touch with their UK-based test bodies to see whether this is possible, or whether their products will need to be retested.‘

He went on to write, ‚On whether industry will be able to meet capacity and  avoid additiional duplicate laboratory testing, there is not much the Government can do if Notified/Approved Bodies won’t accept the risks associated with somebody else’s testing from a few years ago. But we will continue to recognise CE-marked goods tested by EU-recognised Notofied Bodies until the end of 2021.‘

See the full letter Lord Greenhaigh_UKCA_190121.