UKCA Mark
Friday, 29 January 2021
What is the UKCA mark?
The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking is a new UK product marking that is used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). It covers most goods which previously required the CE marking. The UKCA marking alone cannot be used for goods placed on the Northern Ireland market, which require the CE marking or UKNI marking. See the guidance on placing goods on the Northern Ireland market.
How many UKCA markings are there?
There is just the one UKCA marking. Only the CE mark will be recognised in the EU. In GB, both the CE mark and the UKCA mark will be recognised until the 1st January 2022. To affix a UKCA mark, accreditation work to support that marking must be done by a UK approved body (previously a notified body). To place a product on the market bearing a CE mark, accreditation work to support that marking must be done by an EU notified body (i.e. accreditation by a UK body will no longer be recognised). If accreditation work has been done by a UK body, then you can either affix the UKCA mark, or transfer accreditation to an EU notified body and affix the CE mark.
Where would we get accredited for a UKCA mark? Accreditation for the UKCA mark will operate in a very similar way to accreditation for the CE mark. The difference is that you will need to use a UK approved body for accreditation work where you previously used an EU notified body.
When should you use the UKCA mark?
You will need to use the new UKCA marking immediately after 1 January 2021 if all of the following apply; your product:
- is for the market in Great Britain
- is covered by legislation which requires the UKCA marking
- requires mandatory third-party conformity assessment
- conformity assessment has been carried out by a UK conformity assessment body and you haven’t transferred your conformity assessment files from your UK body to an EU recognised body before 1 January 2021
Does all new stock from 1st Jan 2021 need to have the UKCA mark visible?
All new stock which requires mandatory 3rd party conformity assessment (and where that assessment has been carried out by a UK assessment body) must have a UKCA mark. Such a product could not bear a valid CE mark because conformity assessment will have been carried out by a UK body, no longer recognised by the EU. In this case, you can use the UKCA mark OR you could transfer the conformity assessment files and work to a recognised EU notified body and continue to use the CE mark until January 2022.
