Some imported construction products are being pulled from the market amid confusion over safety markings.
That’s the warning from the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), which has written to the new business secretary Grant Shapps and Michael Gove, secretary of state at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
In its letter to Shapps and Gove, the CLC said one area of “initial concern” it wanted to draw their attention to was the decision to move from CE to UKCA marking. The changeover will become effective in January 2023.
It has called on the secretaries of state to suspending the implementation of UKCA marking for another two years.
‘UK just too difficult to do business with’
The CLC’s letter said: “The Construction Products Regulations UK (CPR) were adopted into the UK from the original EU regulations as part of the Brexit negotiations. These regulations are specific to construction products, with separate provisions and definitions from the wider product regulations used in the wider economy.
“The CA mark and transition arrangements from CE remains unclear and the UK testing capacity has not been able to scale up to meet the demands.”
The CLC noted that while not all products were affected, “many of the most important to construction are”. They include glues and sealants, glass, insulation, radiators and passive fire protection.
It pointed out that construction companies needed all of these products to deliver new homes, schools and hospitals.
It added: “Approximately 28% of products are imported and half of that from the EU and therefore these products are also affected. As a result, many global manufacturers now regard the UK as just too difficult to do business with, which has resulted in products being withdrawn – impacting on the UK’s ability to deliver completed projects.”
Recommendations
In addition to recommending the suspension of UKCA’s implementation for two years, the CLC called on the government to establish a joint working party between government and the construction sector to plan a transition to the new arrangements.
It said: “Given the current business environment of significant material inflation, increased energy costs and uncertainty, we call for urgent action and intervention to assist the construction sector to remain resilient and deliver upon the current and future needs of the country.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are considering how to minimise the burdens and costs placed on business, and this includes our transition to the UKCA mark.
“The government is committed to ensuring our approach to product safety is as simple and straightforward as possible for businesses, while providing the highest levels of consumer protection.”
