The Door and Hardware Federation (DHF) has warmly welcomed the UK government’s decision to continue recognising CE marking for a further 12 months. This means that the UKCA mark will only become mandatory for goods placed on the market after 31 December 2022, rather than 2021, as previously announced.
“The ideal solution would have been for the UK and EU to agree to recognise each other’s testing,” said Michael Skelding, the DHF’s general manager. After all, the test standards are identical, and the laboratories all work to the same rules. However, since this has proved impossible to negotiate, an extension to the time allowed is an acceptable second-best solution. We shall see whether a 12-month delay proves to be sufficient. There are certain products for which the shortage of UK test capacity is particularly acute, and even cases where facilities are currently non-existent, these may well not be ready in time for the new date.”
The DHF had campaigned vigorously for a delay because the anticipated upsurge in demand for product testing to support the new marking would have exceeded the capacity of UK testing facilities. Except where self-declaration by the manufacturer is permitted, UKCA marking can only be supported by testing conducted by UK-approved test and certification bodies; tests conducted by EU-based bodies will generally not be considered valid for this purpose. It will therefore be necessary in many cases to re-test products previously tested in the EU, as well as testing new or modified products; the demand for product testing is surging as a result and more time is needed for this to take place.
