黑洞社区

A failure to get the new post-Brexit system for certifying construction products up and running by next year could be 鈥渄evastating鈥� for the industry, the former boss of a major products specification body has warned.

Richard Waterhouse, who was chief executive and chief strategy officer for the NBS until last year and is now a spokesperson, said getting the new marking system ready in time is 鈥渘ot achievable鈥�.

The government is currently in the process of switching from the Europe-wide CE marking for certifying construction products to the new UK-only UKCA marking as part of a regulatory divergence agreed in last December鈥檚 Brexit deal.

The UK is currently in a transition period, which means both the CE markings and the new UKCA markings can be used until 31 December this year.

But from 1 January, all products which previously required a CE mark, which includes structural steel, insulation, glass and cladding, will need to be retested to obtain the UKCA mark.

It means that huge amounts of construction products will need to undergo testing 鈥� which can cost up to 拢50,000 per test 鈥� for the new marking between now and the start of 2022, despite the limited capacity of testing facilities in the UK.

For certain products, such as high specification glass and construction adhesives, there are no facilities to carry out the necessary assessments in the UK.

Waterhouse, who headed up the NBS for over 16 years before its sale to Swedish software provider Byggfakta Group last November, said that the 鈥渙nly sensible鈥� option would be to extend the transition period.

鈥淵ou have to question whether any analysis was done on the volume of testing required and the capability and capacity of testing organisations to do that.

鈥淎nd I think anybody looking at that would say actually that鈥檚 not achievable. How did the government expect us to do this?鈥�

He warned that the government runs the risk of causing 鈥渕assive鈥� price hikes for construction materials and preventing projects from proceeding if the deadline is not extended, calling the situation a potential 鈥渟elf-inflicted wound鈥�.

鈥淲e should all feel quite alarmed by this,鈥� he added.

One major contractor told 黑洞社区 that there are 鈥渦ndoubtedly concerns鈥� about the issue but that it was too early to tell what impact it would have.

It added: 鈥淭he lack of clarity and clear direction means we can鈥檛 really plan mitigation measures effectively or begin to estimate the impact on project planning and delivery.鈥�

Waterhouse鈥檚 warning comes after Construction Products Association chief executive Peter Caplehorn told 黑洞社区 he had spoken to the construction minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan last month urging her to extend the transition period.

Caplehorn said that Trevelyan had not commented on the details of his concerns but had said that her team would look into the points raised.

He admitted that the worst-case scenario would be that large parts of the industry would find themselves unable to operate because it would 鈥渞apidly get to a point where there would be significant shortages of key commodities鈥�.

Both Trevelyan and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not rule out extending the transition period and did not comment when asked what plan there was for testing products which the UK has no facilities for, or if there is enough time to build the required capacity.

The department said in a statement: 鈥淲e are working closely with businesses, including conformity assessment bodies, to ensure products can continue to be placed on the market once unilateral recognition of CE marking ends.

鈥淲e will update our guidance in due course to provide further clarity on capacity and capability to test certain products in the UK, and what this means for businesses.

鈥淏usinesses should continue to prepare for the end of recognition of the CE mark in Great Britain.鈥�