BBA initiative drives ‘single audit’ plan for UKCA & CE marking
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Building product manufacturers seeking certification to supply British and European markets can fast-track UKCA and CE marking applications following major agreements between the British Board of Agrément (BBA) and European Notified Bodies (NBs).
The BBA has initiated discussions with a number of NBs proposing they collaborate to facilitate quicker, easier and more cost-effective compliance to address product certification changes introduced post-Brexit.
For manufacturers this will mean one audit – carried out by the BBA or by a Notified Body partner – to support both UKCA and CE marking for FPC 2+, saving BBA and European NB clients time and money by reducing audit days and administration costs.
“Following Brexit, organisations within the UK can no longer assist with conformity tasks in support of CE marking and European Notified Bodies can no longer assist with conformity tasks in support of the new UKCA marking applications,” said Peter Webbon, BBA Sales and Marketing Director. “This has created a frustrating situation for clients in both marketplaces having to use two organisations for two conformity markings even though much of the information required is the same.
“We reached out to European NBs with the suggestion that we collaborate to achieve one audit for both FPC certificates. These new partnerships create efficiencies across the supply chain, making it easier and quicker for building product manufacturers at home and throughout the EU to achieve the necessary compliance.
“Although NBs have worked together in the past this is the first real partnership seen between them, for the good of the industry,” added Peter.
Already more than 10 EU NBs have confirmed participation in the scheme, including Eurofins Finland (the first to sign up to the partnership), ITB Poland, NCS Estonia, Holzforschung Austria and SKZ Germany, with strong interest from many more.
Katarzyna Hatowska, Head of the Certification Department at Instytut Techniki Budowlanej (ITB) said: “We are happy that our partnership with the BBA will help EU and UK construction product manufacturers, bringing the potential for substantial time and money savings in the certification process. From now a single audit can be used for both CE and UKCA marking certification purposes, thus BBA and ITB will be able to jointly support the industry in more effective access to EU and UK markets.”
The partnerships announcement is well-timed – the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking transition period was introduced in January 2021 and covers most goods which previously required the CE marking. Businesses were given 12 months to implement this new protocol. The clock is now ticking for the correct certification to be in place before the transition period ends.