UKCA marking

So this connects directly to Chapter 8. which we covered in episode 161.

There, we talked about architects not relying solely on CE or UKCA marks, looking for independent third-party certification, and the Office for Product Safety and Standards now overseeing the construction products market.

So the CCPI accreditation gives specifiers another indicator of the quality, of the product information in front of them.

But it's worth being clear that CCPI is voluntary, so it sits alongside rather than replaces the checks we discussed in episode 161.

With the transition in approved document B to the European fire classification standards, that's your prompt to ask for the product's classification.

under BS EN 13501-1.

And as we discussed in episode 161, for third-party certification from a UCAS accredited testing and certification body, rather than relying on a CE or UKCA mark alone.

And if you're weighing up two otherwise comparable products, the fact that one manufacturer is CCPI accredited may give you more confidence in the quality and accuracy of the product safety data in front of you.

Okay, in other news, Swift Fuels, those people we've spoken about before in the US who are making 100R, which is basically the replacement for lead-free fuel, effectively.

They had a bunch of STCs in the States and they've got a big AML approved model list, which has now been approved by EASA and the UKCA.

So there's something like 1600 extra airframes and 1200 engines spread across those that are now approved in EASA land and in the UK.

That's

It is crucial to understand that the word natural refers strictly to where the rubber came from, in the forest, not what the finished toy might release after manufacturing.

And finally, the CE and UKCA marks you see on packaging.

Which people often misunderstand.

They do.

That is the law.

Yes, that is the legal ceiling.

The law sets the boundary for safety in Great Britain, and manufacturers use the CE or UKCA marks to declare compliance with that law.

It is a firm, regulated ceiling.

You could compare it to the classification rules in the UK medical device regulation.

You could decide it's class one software and you'd be able to UKCA mark that yourselves.

But you may not necessarily be able to automatically put that product on the market in Northern Ireland because it doesn't meet the requirements of the European regulation.

So we can end up with these discrepancies, and sometimes that can make a big difference to the bottom line, the budget, because taking a product through a conformity assessment with a notified body obviously is a lot more work.

Because each element of the work that you have to do has an impact on the other elements.

It will impact your marketing, whether you're a regulated medical device.

It will impact your sales if you have to delay sales because you have to get your UKCA mark first, etc., etc.

So there's lots of things to think about and there's lots of people that you will need to engage with or an awful lot of training courses to go on.

And the last one, which is the most interesting one, is the powers to support the future development of a medical device licensing regime.

So this one, I read it maybe two or three times because I was asking myself, is there not already a medical device license regime in the UK, which is the UKCA, because they are trying to go, go through that.

Um, so yeah, and when I read it, I'm-- I think I understood it like that, but I'm not sure anymore now, that yes, the UKCA is here, but maybe we want to change it and to have something else or another pathway.

UKCA is still valid, but this law or this amendment is mainly to be able to work on a new licensing, um, pathway regime for UK.

So it doesn't mean that you will not accept any other way like CE marking or like, uh, maybe they will open door for reliance with the US or other things.

But it's mainly to think of something more domestic, internal.

It doesn't mean that they are working on it.

It's just a wish.

Of course you could

... is a UKCA qualification.

That's what a single market, that's what a single market is, isn't it?

Yeah.

Now, the, the, the BS 1090 is a UKCA qualification.

It's, it's a, it's a different qualification.

Um-