UKCA certification

What is the UKCA Mark?

UKCA is an abbreviation consisting of the initials of the United Kingdom Conformity Assessment. The UKCA marking of manufacturers’ products will indicate that they have passed the conformity assessment processes published by the UK and their conformity has been approved.

As is known, the UK countries are England, Scotland, and Wales. In this case, it should not be forgotten that all kinds of directives and applications related to the UKCA mark cover these countries.

The CE mark is a mandatory application in all countries that are members of the European Union and in our country. Manufacturers who attach the CE mark on their products are able to supply their products to the market of countries in the European Economic Area.

UKCA mark is the product mark that should be used instead of CE mark for the products to be exported to these countries after United Kingdom countries leaving the European Union, in other words after BREXIT.

When will the UKCA Mark become mandatory?

After the BREXIT process, which has now been implemented as of January 1, 2021, manufacturers who want to export their products to the UK countries can start the certification process in order to attach the UKCA mark to their products. The UKCA mark will only be a valid mark for exports to the UK countries, so as the CE mark, it will not be valid in other countries that are members of the European Union. Manufacturers who have already attached CE mark to their products or those who have not attached any mark on their products will not be able to export their products to the UK countries without the UKCA mark as of January 1, 2022. The year 2021 has been determined as a transition period. Therefore, a manufacturer that attaches the CE mark to its products will still be able to export its products to the UK countries with the CE mark in 2021. However, as of January 2022, the CE mark and UKCA mark will be completely separated from each other and the products without the UKCA mark will not be exported to the UK countries.

For the year 2021, which is determined as the transition year, manufacturers will be able to continue to export their products to UK countries with both the CE mark and the UKCA mark. Manufacturers who are willing to export their products to the UK countries are expected to prepare for 2022 by using the year 2021 to complete their UKCA certification processes. With such a transition process, care was taken to avoid problems in exports to these countries.

Which products will be subject to the UKCA Mark?

Almost all of the products that are currently in use and in the scope of the directives that require CE marking on the products will be under the scope of the UKCA mark. As Szutest, we offer UKCA certification services in all sectors listed below, where we offer CE certification services to our customers,

• Construction Materials
• Machinery
• Pressure Vessels and Simple Pressure Vessels Directive
• Electrical Devices
• Gas Burning Devices
• Equipment within the Scope of Noise Regulation
• Elevators
• Hot Water Boilers
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Equipment within the scope of ATEX Directive

How should manufacturers prepare for the UKCA certification process?

There are two different answers to this question. Because the process will work differently for manufacturers that have and do not have a CE mark.

For a manufacturer who already has the right to attach CE marking to its products, the UKCA certification process will proceed much faster and easier. Because, by taking an active role as Szutest in the UKCA marking process of our customers who have completed the CE certification, we will enable them to easily complete the UKCA certification processes. The requirements for UKCA marking are the same as those for CE marking. The modules in the directives and the standards to be applied (except for particular cases) are also the same. At this point, a UKCA marking process will be operated by adhering to the requirements of the directives and standards that the product is covered. For this reason, the UKCA marking process will be relatively easy and fast for manufacturers who have already achieved this compliance.

On the other hand, for manufacturers who have not yet received CE marking for their products, UKCA certification processes will be more difficult and take more time as they will be carried out from the very beginning.

How long does the UKCA marking process take?

The duration of UKCA marking depends on the directives and standards to which the product is bound. However, as we mentioned above, the UKCA marking process will be faster for a manufacturer who already has the right to attach the CE mark to its products, compared to manufacturers that do not have a CE mark. For more detailed information on this matter, we kindly request you to contact Szutest experts.