November 9, 2021
WARRINGTON, ENGLAND — November 9, 2021 — UL, the global safety science leader, can now provide the full suite of conformity assessment services to manufacturers for a wide range of fire safety products for the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Europe, following official confirmation of UL International (Netherlands) BV’s new European Union (EU) technical assessment body status.
UL’s latest designation as a technical assessment body allows it to help manufacturers of new and innovative fire safety products to achieve CE marking. Its product scope includes, among others, firefighting equipment, fire and smoke control, firestopping, fire sealing and fire protection and retardant products.
This new designation means that customers with relevant products can now achieve global market acceptance and compliance, opening up new markets across the world. The designation is in addition to UL’s existing roles as a notified body for CE marking, its approved body status for UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking and all its existing third-party certification services for the internationally recognized UL Mark.
Since Britain’s exit from the EU, conformity assessment and required conformity markings have become considerably more complex for many product manufacturers in the construction and fire safety sectors.
The UKCA mark is being introduced for products intended for the market in England, Scotland and Wales and will replace the European CE marking regime first introduced in 1985. UKCA marking will likely be mandatory for certain regulated products from 1 January 2023, following the U.K. Government’s recent agreement to extend this deadline for one year.
However, for manufacturers looking to place products in both British and European markets, assessments must be completed by both an EU-notified or technical assessment body for the CE marking and a U.K.-approved body for the UKCA marking. UL can now provide all options through a combined safety testing and certification assessment process, saving time and cost.
“UL is now a comprehensive service provider for conformity marking needs through our third-party testing, assessment and certification activities on a wide range of fire safety products in the U.K. and Europe,” said Chris Miles, EMEA regional business director for UL’s Built Environment group. “This will deliver significant efficiencies and economies of scale for our customers, and vital safety reassurances to their customers, too."
“We would urge manufacturers looking to place fire safety products on the British market to start their UKCA marking applications soon — don’t wait until just before the revised deadline of 1 January 2023. And for products that already enjoy full market acceptance in the U.K. and Europe, we can help guide customers about additional market opportunities provided by the UL Mark in all other parts of the world,” said Miles.
Further information on UL’s approval as an EU technical assessment body is available here. It specifically covers:
- Fixed firefighting equipment (fire alarm/detection, fixed firefighting, fire and smoke control and explosion suppression products)
- Fire stopping, fire sealing and fire protective products, fire retardant products
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