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Find a GGF MemberWith considerable uncertainty around the impact of the UK leaving the European Union (EU), the GGF is working closely with Government departments, British and European Standards Committees to ensure that Members are aware of the impact Brexit may have on the glass and glazing industry – with or without a deal.
Below is the GGF’s interpretation of the implications of CE Marking and the Construction Products Regulation, post-Brexit, with or without a deal.
If the UK leaves the EU with a deal.
1. Whether the UK exit the EU with or without a deal, the status of UK Notified Bodies changes. They will no longer be Notified Bodies as described in the Construction Products Regulations (CPR) and:
a. UK Notified Bodies (NB) will no longer be able to carry out Type Testing in order to declare the performance of construction product Essential Characteristics as required by the CPR.
b. Existing Type Test results from a UK Notified Body will still be accepted for CPR Declaration of Performance (DoPs) and CE Marking.
c. Existing Certificates of Constancy of Performance issued by UK Notified Product Certification Bodies (NPCB) will no longer be valid for CPR DoPs or CE Marking (see Deal or No-Deal below)
2. In the event of the UK leaving the EU with a Deal
a. The current CPR and any revisions to it will continue to be implemented in the UK
b. Harmonised European Standards (hEN) and the CPR
c. The UK will continue to work within CEN via BSI to develop new and to revise existing hENs.
d. The UK will automatically recognise and publish the UK version of any new or revised hEN.
e. The hENS will continue to be the form the basis of demonstrating compliance to the CPR in the UK.
f. Manufacturers already producing a DoP and CE marking their products under Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP) System 3 or 4 do not need to take any action, existing Type Testing and classification by existing UK Notified Bodies will remain valid post Brexit:
g. If the product is altered in any way which will affect the performance of any declared Essential Characteristic, new Type Testing and classification will be required and test/classification report will need to be issued by an EU-27 NB.
h. UKAS accredited UK test houses who have an operational base in the EU-27 will be able to carry out testing as a test house within the control of their EU-27 NB but the report/classification will be issued under the title of the EU-27 NB: or
i. A UK UKAS accredited certification body may work in partnership with an EU-27 NB and carry out the relevant testing and their EU-27 NB partner will issue the relevant test or classification report under their NB status.
j. Manufacturers already producing products under AVCP System 1 who have Certificates of Constancy of Performance (CCP) issued by a UK Notified Product Certification Body will no longer be able to place these products on the market unless:
k. The existing UK Notified Body has an operational base in the EU-27 and the CCP is transferred to and re-issued by the EU-27 operational base: or
l. A contractual relationship is established between the manufacturer, the existing UK NPCB and an EU-27 NPCB whereby the UK certification body operates as an approved contractor to the EU-27 NPCB and the CCP is re-issued under the title of that EU-27 NPCB.
m. The above requirements will operate following a post Deal Brexit during the negotiations on trade between the UK and EU-27.
n. The final agreements on trade may provide a variation to the above
3. In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a Deal
a. The existing CPR incorporated into UK Law will be amended on the day of the UK leaving the EU.The Statutory Instrument (SI) was laid before Parliament on 5th March 2019 and will only come into effect in the event of a No-Deal Brexit.
The SI does not change the requirement to produce a DoP and Mark the product but changes terminology to UK references not EU references.
b. Existing Notified Bodies and Notified Product Certification Bodies will become Approved Bodies in the UK.
c. They will be able to issue Type Testing and Classification reports in their own name and these may be used to demonstrate compliance with the UK CPR in the UK only.
d. Approved Product Certification Bodies will be able to issue CCPs to demonstrate compliance to the UK CPR for AVCP System 1 products.
e. Existing European Standards will be transferred into the UK system as Designated Standards (DS) and will have references in the format BS EN XXXX.
f. BSI will continue to work within the CEN structure and contribute to new and revised European Standards: but
g. New or revised European Standards will no longer automatically become DSs following a No-Deal Brexit but will only become a DS if the Secretary of State determines that the introduction of the new or revised standards are beneficial to UK industry.
h. If the Secretary of State determines that changes need to be made to DSs for the benefit of the UK, BSI will be instructed to make the necessary changes using their usual processes.
i. Products legitimately affixed with CE Marking already on the market before the UK leaves the EU will be able to be placed on the market in the UK post No-Deal Brexit.
j. Additionally products that are made and assessed against EU hENs and legitimately carry the CE marking can continue to be placed on the UK market.
k. Provided the hEN is identical to the UK DS (this will be case immediately after the UK leaves the EU –see above).
l. Continued CE Marking in the UK will be for a yet to be determined time-limited period following Brexit.
m. The UK will introduce a UK only mark that may be used to demonstrate compliance with the post No-Deal Brexit UK CPR.
n. The CE mark will be replaced by the UK Conformity Assessment mark – UKCA mark.
o. This UKCA mark may only be used in the UK, if manufacturers are exporting construction products to the EU-27, they must CE mark their products using NBs.
p. Where a manufacturer has product testing/classification reports under the current CPR AVCP System 3 or 4 requirements, i.e. by Notified Bodies or by manufacturers own testing, If the manufacturer wishes, these may be transferred to the UKCA mark without further testing or classification by the manufacturer producing a new DoP and UKCA Mark.
q. Where a manufacturer holds CCP from an existing UK NPCB without an EU-27 operational base or contractual arrangement for AVCP System 1 products, these must be re-issued or transferred to a UK Approved Body following a No-Deal Brexit.
r. Where a manufacturers CCP is issued by an EU-27 NPCB, they may continue to place the product on the UK market for a time-limited period.
Summary The above information is an interpretation and is based on the many meetings the GGF has held with Government departments, working parties, standards committees and related bodies. The GGF will continue discussions and will cascade key information of any potential changes directly to Members. If you have any queries regarding the above information please feel free to contact the technical department by email technical@ggf.org.uk
