On 18 December 2018, legislation was laid before parliament necessary to ensure that the CPR regime continues to function effectively in the UK if we leave the EU with ‘no deal’. The Statutory Instrument delivers the policy approach set out in the Technical Notices published on 13 September 2018 – click here to see. Please note that this remains draft legislation until such time as it has passed al parliamentary procedures.
The UK approach is to maintain the requirements on manufacturers to declare the performance of their construction products in accordance with the existing harmonised European standards applicable on the day we exit the EU (29 March 2019). The key elements of the legislation are outlined below:
- Construction products already placed on the market can continue to circulate in the UK
- Existing European harmonised standards will become ‘UK designated standards’. Immediately we leave the EU both the EU hEN and the UK Designated standard (UKDS) will have the same text
- New UK standards will be designated by the Secretary of State
- Where a UK organisation has undertaken the third party conformity assessment process required under the UKDS, the manufacturer must affix the new UK conformity mark – this has still to be released
- Construction products that meet the hEN and have the CE mark affixed can continue to be placed on the UK market without the need for re-testing or additional marking. This arrangement will be for a time-limited period only and businesses will be given sufficient notice in advance of this period coming to an end. The end date for this period has not yet been fixed
- Where a manufacturer uses the self-declaration approach during the time-limited period they will have the choice to use either the UK or the CE mark
- For products that are not fully covered by a UK designated standard an optional UK Assessment Document (UKAD) and the issuing of a Technical Assessment will be undertaken by Technical Assessment Bodies established in the UK
- UK Notified Bodies will become UK Approved Bodies and be listed on a new UK database.
For more information please read the Explanatory Memorandum accessed here.
A copy of the draft Statutory Instrument Exiting the European Union, Building and Buildings Construction Market Standards can be viewed here.
In addition to the above, it is important that members also take on board the following issues if we leave the EU with ‘no deal’:
- Conformity assessment carried out by a UK Notified Body will no longer be recognised by the EU. They will have to be retested and re-marked by an EU recognised conformity assessment body. Alternatively, manufacturers can arrange for their files to be transferred to a EU recognised Notified Body thus enabling their certificates of conformity issued in the UK to continue to be valid
- The role of the UK Accreditation Service will not change