UKCA or CE Marking for Plastic Piping Systems
This position statement has been issued by the BPF Pipes Group (April 2023).
The government made legislation in March 2019 which came into effect on 1 January 2021 to make arrangements for the regulation of construction products after EU Exit.
This now applies in England, Wales and Scotland only. The regime in Northern Ireland matches the EU requirements for construction product.
More detail can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/construction-products-regulation-in-great-britain
This statement by the BPF Pipes Group is intended to help designers, stockists and users of plastic piping systems on the current situation with respect to CE/UKCA/UK(NI) marking.
CE Marking
The EU Constructions Products Regulation (CPR) includes requirements for construction products to have CE marking and to be accompanied by a declaration of performance (DoP) and other information if it is to be placed on the market in the European Economic Area.
A construction product cannot be CE marked under the EU-CPR unless it is covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN) or, otherwise, the manufacturer has had a European Technical Assessment drawn up for it.
There are no Harmonised European Standards (hENs), under the EU-CPR, for plastic piping systems.
This means that it is currently not possible, and not legal, to apply CE marking to, or issue a Declaration of Performance (DoP) for, plastic piping systems in any of the following applications:
- Soil and waste discharge
- Non-pressure drainage and sewerage
- Water supply, drainage, sewerage and supply of gaseous fuels under pressure
- Hot and cold water installations
- Rainwater systems
UKCA Marking
All existing harmonised European standards became UK ‘designated standards’. This means that harmonised European standards and UK designated standards are currently identical.
As with CE marking there are, therefore, no UK designated standards for plastic piping systems.
This means that it is currently not possible, and not legal, to apply UKCA marking to, or issue a Declaration of Performance (DoP) for, plastic piping systems as above.
What does this mean for purchasers of plastic piping systems?
Plastic piping systems are manufactured to recognised product standards (ENs or EuroNorms, adopted as BS ENs in the UK) which contain technical requirements for consistent and reliable performance. The use of these BS EN product standards is unaffected.
The BPF Pipes Group and its members strongly advise that compliance with these product standards is verified through a third-party certification scheme.
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