As far as timing is concerned , CE marking is still fully accepted in the UK this year , but all companies manufacturing and selling in the UK must have UKCA marking on their products by the end of 2021 . Importantly for Aluprof UK , we will comply with the new UKCA marking and are already scheduling our products for conformity with UK ‘ approved bodies ’ this year .
Importantly for Aluprof UK , we will comply with the new UKCA marking and are already scheduling our products for conformity with UK ‘ approved bodies ’ this year .
Now a note of caution , we often use Great Britain , the United Kingdom and the British Isles interchangeably , but this is not correct . ‘ Great Britain ’ consists of England , Scotland and Wales , the ‘ United Kingdom ’ consists of ‘ Great Britain ’ and ‘ Northern Ireland ’. The ‘ British Isles ’, consists of the ‘ United Kingdom ’ and ‘ Ireland ’, plus numerous smaller island groups , which include the Hebrides , the Shetland Islands , the Orkney Islands , the Isles of Scilly , and the Isle of Man .
In Northern Ireland , matters get a little more complicated as manufacturers there have their own UK ( NI ) mark to comply with which must be used alongside the CE marking . Whilst Great Britain will accept the UK ( NI )+ CE marked products known as ‘ unfettered access ’, products manufactured in Northern Ireland only need to carry the CE mark if they are to be sold solely in the EEA . Part of the reason for the difference in Northern Ireland is that whilst Northern Ireland sits within the EEA , from the 1st January 2021 , it is now outside the EU Customs Union . It must be reiterated that for products manufactured and sold in Northern Ireland , they must always carry both the CE mark and the UK ( NI ).
It is also important to remember that a separate Declaration of Performance / Conformity ( DoP ) must be provided for each UKCA , UK ( NI ) and CE mark . Whilst at the moment these will broadly be the same , it is likely that with changes to legislation here and in the EEA over time , these will begin to differ . It has also been confirmed that both CE and UKCA marks can be used together on products as long as they are separate and are clearly visible . As the UK ‘ approved bodies ’ move to offer UKCA marking , CE marking ‘ approved bodies ’ for products to be sold in the EEA , can only be provided by an EU based ‘ approved body ’.
Whilst new conformity marks are being introduced , UKCA and UK ( NI ), nothing else changes at this time regarding the products that require labelling . The marking convention and conformity continues for construction products as it has done for CE marking for the last few years .
So what does this mean for supply of goods from the EEA to our customers in the British Isles and in particular , products imported by Aluprof ?
As a European manufacturer , we will continue with CE marking which will confirm with the requirements for Ireland and Northern Ireland , for Great Britain ( England , Scotland and Wales ) all our products can continue to be used with CE marking in 2021 are being lodged with a UK ‘ approved body ’ to ensure they can carry UKCA compliance markings .
There is also one caveat to the conformity marking , that is the marking is only applied at the time of manufacture , so there could be products manufactured in 2021 in compliance with CE marking that may enter the Great Britain market in early 2022 . At this point we begin to get into some of the grey areas of compliance and the government is still working out some of the detail . What is known is
that for our customers who manufacture our systems into products that go on site , you will need to demonstrate compliance with the new UKCA marking from the 1st January 2022 .
As ever with our loyal customers in the British Isles , we are on-hand at Aluprof to give any of our customers guidance on the compliance and marking convention .
With the company Project Office at the Business Design Centre in London , Aluprof has rapidly grown their specification influence in the UK with their high performance architectural aluminium systems . With overseas growth across Europe spreading into the Middle East and firm roots already in the East of the USA , the company is becoming a global player in facade supply .
Further information is available on the company ’ s website at aluprof . co . uk or direct from their UK office in Altrincham on 0161 941 4005 .
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