UKCA

Obtain your UKCA marking successfully

and bring your products safely onto the UK market

Certification Experts will be your full-service compliance partner and guide you through the complete UKCA marking process. With over 25 years of experience, our team will help you to obtain access to the UK market.

UKCA mark

The UKCA mark indicates that your product is in compliance with the UK product legislation. It is mandatory for all manufacturers whose products fall within the applicable UKCA regulations (also known as Statutory Instruments) to get UKCA certification before they can access the UK market. The UKCA mark is specific to the legislative requirements of the UK product market. If your product falls within the scope of the UKCA marking, it needs to be marked correctly from the 31st of December 2024 on forward (due to a recent UKCA marking extension)– the European CE mark will no longer be valid on the UK market by then anymore, as a result of Brexit. Products without the UKCA mark cannot be legally traded within the UK.

Challenges of UKCA certification

Obtaining UK marking can be a lengthy and complicated process. Herein, time and knowledge of regulations must be taken into account during the process as well as the applicable testing facilities that are required to complete this UKCA certification.  

Guidance from start to finish

Certification Experts will evaluate your technical file and verify the compliance in accordance with applicable UK Statutory Instruments. Usually, this can be based on the existing CE mark, as the UK Statutory Instruments are similar to the European product safety legislation. As your full-service compliance partner, our UKCA mark consultants will guide you through all such processes in order for your products to pass the UKCA testing and obtain UKCA marking.

Who We Serve

UK Market

Trust our team of experts to handle the UKCA Marking process for you

UKCA marking: Obtain Access to UK Market

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessment) mark is a conformity mark that demonstrates your product meets all the relevant UK regulations before it can enter the UK product market. If you want to enter the product market of England, Wales and Scotland, it is compulsory for your product to carry this mark.

What is a UKCA certification?

It is mandatory for all manufacturers whose products fall within the applicable UK marking directives and regulations to get UKCA certification before they can access the UK market. If an importer markets the product under its own name, it assumes the responsibilities of the manufacturer, and must apply the UKCA marking itself.

UKCA marking is mandatory for manufacturers in the following product groups:

  • Toys
  • Pyrotechnics
  • Recreational craft and personal watercraft
  • Simple pressure vessels
  • Electromagnetic compatibility
  • Non-automatic weighing instruments
  • Measuring instruments
  • Measuring container bottles
  • Lifts
  • Equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres (UKEX)
  • Radio equipment
  • Pressure equipment
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Gas appliances
  • Machinery
  • Equipment for use outdoors
  • Ecodesign
  • Aerosols
  • Low voltage electrical equipment

There are also a few product groups that require UKCA marking but have some (additional) specific rules, such as involvement of a UKAS (The United Kingdom Accreditation Service) approved notified body conformity assessment. These specific rules exist for the following product groups:

  • Medical devices
  • Rail interoperability
  • Construction products
  • Civil explosives
  • Marine equipment
  • Cableways
  • Energy using products
  • Transportable pressure equipment
  • Hazardous substances (RoHS)

Lastly, different rules apply to products that fall under other regulatory frameworks, such as:

  • Chemicals
  • Medicines
  • Veterinary medicines
  • Vehicles
  • Aerospace

Full-service product compliance

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How to get UKCA certification

The process of getting your product UKCA marked, is essentially the same as it is for CE marking. The technical (or, essential) requirements your product must meet to obtain the UKCA marking are dependent on the specific legislations of the product group it falls under. Generally, manufacturers can perform self certification. This entails compiling a technical file, performing a risk assessment, testing, ensuring correct information and warnings, including compiling the UKCA Declaration of Conformity. However, a third-party, such as Certification Experts, is often chosen by the manufacturer as this process is time consuming, and requires a specific know-how and test facilities that they do not always have. Once we become your full-service compliance partner, we take the following steps to ensure you obtain the UKCA mark:

  • Identifying the lawful requirements your product needs to meet
  • Establishing what the procedure of getting the certification mark will then look like
  • Verify the usability of existing test- and assessment report(s) for the UKCA compliance
  • Composing the UKCA Declaration of Conformity and marking the product
  • Ensure the product has the correct UKCA label on it
  • The product can now be sold on the UK market

Additionally, when you want to bring a high-risk product onto the market, you need to execute a conformity assessment procedure with an accredited third-party.

If you are located outside of the UK, and you want to bring your product onto the UK market, you may need a UK Authorised Representative (UK AR) or UK Responsible Person (UKRP) to act as a liaison between you and the competent national authorities. Certification Experts can act as your UK Authorised Representative.

The Different roles within UKCA marking

The different roles within the process of UKCA certification are specified for each economic operator. An ‘economic operator’ refers to the manufacturer, the UK Authorised Representative (UK AR), the importer, the distributor, or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacturer of products, who makes them available on the market or puts them into service in accordance with the relevant Union harmonisation legislation. The table below provides a general overview of the roles of each economic operator.

RoleMeaningObligations
ManufacturersAny natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under its name or trademark.Must understand both the design and construction of the product and carry out the applicable conformity assessment or have it carried out, to be able to take the responsibility for the product being in compliance with all provisions of the relevant legislation (UKCA Regulations).
Must draw up a declaration of conformity and place the UKCA marking visibly, legibly, and indelibly to the product.
Must draw up technical documentation and a UK declaration of conformity and keep both for 10 years after a product has been placed on the GB market.
ImporterAny natural or legal person established within the UK who places a product from outside the UK onto its market for distribution.Has a key role to play in guaranteeing the compliance of imported products. Herein an importer must assure that the appropriate conformity assessment procedure has been carried out by the manufacturer and that the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation, affixed UKCA mark to the product, fulfilled his traceability obligations and accompanied, where relevant, the product by the instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end-users, as determined by the Member State concerned.
UK Authorised Representative (UK AR)Any natural or legal person established within the UK who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under the relevant legislation or under the requirements of the applicable regulations.Affix the UKCA mark.
Keep the UK Declaration of Conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of national surveillance authorities and cooperate with them at their request.
Provide a competent national authority with all the information and documentation necessary to demonstrate the conformity of a product, upon their request.
Cooperate with these authorities to eliminate the risks posed by products covered by their mandate.
DistributorAny natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the UK market.The distributor must be able to identify the manufacturer, their UK AR, the importer or the person who has provided him with the product in order to assist the market surveillance authority in its efforts to obtain the UK DoC and the necessary parts of the technical documentation. They must also:
ensure that the product bears the UKCA mark
Ensure that the product is accompanied by the relevant documents (e.g. UK DoC)
Ensure that the product is accompanied by instructions and safety information in a language which can be easily understood by consumers and other end- users if required by the applicable legislation.
Ensure that the manufacturer and importer have indicated their name, registered trade name or trademark and the address at which they can be contacted on the product or, when this is not possible, that the product bears a type, batch or serial number or other element allowing the identification of the product.

Please remember that the obligations of these economic operators are not limited to those listed above. You should always check the specific legislations for the full list of responsibilities.

General Product Safety

If you make, import, distribute or sell products in the UK, you need to understand the basics of product safety law. You must comply with the regulations for specific product types. If none apply, you must comply with the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR).

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Bondtech Corporation

Elsa Brown President
For more than 15 years, Bondtech has had the pleasure of being partnered with Certification Experts for CE marking for Europe and the UKCA for the UK. Their professionalism, rapid responses, and attention to detail impressed us. Their tailored guidance and meticulous review of our specifications ensured compliance with CE directives. In addition to conducting the conformity assessment process for us, they also act as our Authorised Representative. We recommend Certification Experts for their expertise and personalized service, which not only secured our certifications but also provided invaluable support.

Alfa Wassermann

Kurt Spiegel Vice President of Engineering
Certification Experts has been our partner for over 10 years and the relationship is outstanding. They’ve completed CE Marking, UKCA Marking, and act as our Authorized Representative. The face-to-face meetings are really important and save us a lot of time!

Nikon

Joachim Hofmann GM Service & Support
Collaboration with the Certification team has been very helpful, professional, fast and flexible. It is always good to have a partner at hand who can help with profound expertise whenever required. We look forward to collaborating for our future endeavors!

Government of Canada

Melanie Ter Meulen Trade Comissioner
Certification Experts is a valuable partner to us. The collaboration runs smooth and if Dutch companies require specific technical information, Certification Experts is able to provide this.

Full-service product compliance

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