UK government shelves post-Brexit plan to remove CE marking from construction products

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Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the previous Conservative administration had set up plans to switch from Europe’s CE (Conformité Européenne) mark, to the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark. Government guidance had set a deadline for CE marking of construction products destined for the UK to end by June 2025.

But Rushanara Ali, parliamentary secretary of state for building safety and homelessness, announced yesterday (2 September) that the government would extend the period of recognition of CE marking for construction products.

Explaining the decision, Ali said, “We have listened to the findings from the Independent Review of the Construction Products Testing Regime. This was clear that there is currently insufficient testing and certification capacity in the UK alone to provide the volume of conformity assessment that would be required were CE recognition to end.

“We are also clear that ending recognition of CE marking without reforming the domestic regime would create trade barriers and negatively affect the supply of products that meet recognised standards.”

The announcement came ahead of the Grenfell Inquiry report, set to be published tomorrow (4 September). Ali said that the government wanted to address “inadequacies” across the construction products regime but wanted to take into account any recommendations from the Inquiry.

She added, “I am making this extension, and the longer-term future of CE/UKCA marking, conditional on this government committing to a system-wide reform of the construction products regulatory regime.”

Any subsequent changes to the recognition of CE marking would be subject to a transition period of at least two years to give certainty to supply chains, she said.

Under the existing regime, products within scope of construction products regulations must undergo an assessment of conformity with the relevant standard or technical assessment. Such products must also be affixed with a UKCA or a CE mark.