FIS will be responding on behalf of its members to the Government green paper consultation on construction products reform. We have been in discussion with individuals throughout the supply chain and have gathered views across all areas of the consultation. Members have one more week to give us your comments if you wish for us to include them in our response, and would encourage you to contact jamesparlour@thefis.org with any comments you have.
Conversations with our members to date have highlighted a few key concerns:
- Lack of harmonisation between regulatory approaches for products with and without a designated standard, means that manufacturers may have to undergo very different processes in order to achieve compliance with regulations as designated standards are introduced over time, or depending on the products they sell. A universal approach that encompasses both product categories would be desirable.
- Recommendations of additional measures for safety critical products such as requiring the use of third party certification schemes are welcomed, however a proportional approach will be needed for some non-fire risk related performance characteristics that whilst potentially fulfilling the definition of safety critical, present a much lower risk in real terms.
- The requirement for manufacturers of products not covered by a designated standard to produce a risk assessment that eliminates or controls safety risk related to “reasonably foreseeable conditions of use” requires much more clarity to ensure that manufacturers are not held to unreasonable standards relating to improper use of products by other operators in the supply chain.
Peter Capelhorn of the Construction Products Association (CPA) recorded a webinar with Building Safety Minister Alex Norris MP there they discussed the consultation in detail which can be viewed here:
Construction Products Green Paper Webinar 030425
Anyone can respond directly to the consultation before 21/05/25 at the link below: