As announced in the press earlier this week, the UK government is prolonging the deadline for companies to adopt the ‘UKCA’ safety and quality mark for goods to 1 January 2023.
Nick Mellor, MD of LEIA, commented: “It is good to see our sector being recognised and our efforts being rewarded. I would like to thank the LEIA Quality and Technical Committee members for their hard work on this issue. We believe that the one-year transition should be just about enough to get all the necessary work done. We very strongly urge members to keep working and to encourage their suppliers to get their model lifts and safety components for lifts approved by a UK Approved Body. This extension was not easily gained, and the Government has made clear that there will be no further extension”.
Due to potential supply chain issues and a shortage of Approved Body capacity, LEIA urges all members to work intensively on achieving this now to meet the deadline.
The latest Government guidance, which applies to lifts, safety components for lifts, and machinery such as escalators, moving walks, lifting platforms, stairlifts, homelifts and lifting appliances, states:
“All goods which previously required the CE marking will not need to use the UKCA marking until 1 January 2023.
Businesses are encouraged to be ready for full implementation of the new UK regime as soon as possible. However, to allow businesses time to adjust, CE marked goods in scope of this guidance that meet EU requirements (where these match UK requirements) can continue to be placed on the GB market until 1 January 2023 where EU and UK requirements remain the same. This includes goods which have been assessed by an EU recognised notified body.
The UKCA mark must be used for placing goods on the GB market from 1 January 2023.
You will still need to take action to ensure you comply with new importer responsibilities if you are placing a product on the GB market from the EU market.”
LEIA is hosting a further UKCA marking virtual seminar for members on Thursday 9 September and Wednesday 13 October.
You can find further LEIA guidance here.