The UKCA (United Kingdom Conformity Assessed) marking is the new UK product mark that officially came into effect on January 1, 2021. The UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published guidance on the introduction of this new marking, which must be used for all goods placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), which will progressively replace the CE marking after Brexit.
The UKCA mark will be required on most products that previously required CE marking. For goods placed on the Northern Ireland market, however, CE marking or UKNI marking will be required.
We remind you, however, that the UKCA mark alone will not be recognized outside the United Kingdom and consequently products exported from the United Kingdom to the European Union will continue to require the CE marking.
Progressive introduction of the UKCA marking
To allow companies to adapt to the new requirements and to allow for the disposal of any existing product stocks, it will still be possible to use the CE mark only until January 1, 2023 (updated August 24, 2021), at least in most cases and for areas where the regulations UK and EU are the same. After this date, however, the CE mark will no longer be recognized in Great Britain, but must also be accompanied by the UKCA mark, which guarantees the product complies with British standards.
A support to companies for the use of the UKCA marking
Anima Confindustria, to which Assotermica is federated, has made a vademecum available to its members to illustrate these innovations and help companies to meet the new requirements: “The vademecum must be seen as a dynamic document which, according to the evolution that it will mark the legislative situation in Great Britain over the next year, it can be updated and adapted to the new provisions and guidance that will follow. In any case, it is essential for all manufacturers to approach as soon as possible the new requirements required for placing on the market, in order to consider their respective needs and requirements “.
The UKCA technical reference
In reality, the assessment standards needed to demonstrate UKCA conformity are largely the same as for the CE marking, just as the self-declaration of conformity procedure remains unchanged. The substantial difference is that, at least for now, the reference names of the directives and related standards change, and that consequently these declarations of conformity will have to be rewritten by indicating the references to the directives and standards of the United Kingdom instead of those required in the Union. European.
I.e., the reference for compliance with the UKCA in our sector are:
- The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 – UK SI 2016 No. 1101, which corresponds to the European Directive 2014/35/EU (Low Voltage);
- Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016 – UK SI 2016 No. 1091, which corresponds to the European Directive 2014/30/EU (Electromagnetic Compatibility);
- Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012 – UK SI 2012 No. 3032, which corresponds to the European Directive 2015/863/CE
- PED from the denomination Pressure Equipment Directive, which corresponds to European Directive 2014/68/UE
- ENEC (EN 60730-1:2016, A1:2019 EN IEC 60730-2-9:2019, A1:2019), the Products meeting the safety objectives of Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU (Annex I).
IMIT products with the UKCA marking
The United Kingdom represents an important share of IMIT’s turnover, with particular attention to products for the thermal power plant. For this, we will implement as soon as possible the necessary procedures to adapt our range of products, so that the UKCA mark can support the CE mark in the shortest possible time, to make our products available all over the world, with the highest quality and safety standards.
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