Construction products regulatory reforms

This chapter sets out information on the construction products sector, the role and responsibilities of key institutions and the current regulatory framework. This will be of less interest to those in the sector who are familiar with existing arrangements.

This chapter reiterates the problems that reforms will address and identifies systemic problems that must be solved to make the construction products sector work better – and more safely. Again, this will be of less interest to those who simply wish to understand the new rules. The short version of the story is that the Grenfell Tower tragedy was the catalyst for change.

This chapter sets out the high-level objectives of construction products regulatory reforms:

• Safety: making construction products safe for their normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use and used safely, for the long-term, across building and infrastructure.
• Growth and Innovation: ensuring regulations are proportionate to risk and minimise trade friction by aligning with EU standards in more areas.
• Accountability: ensuring clear lines of responsibility from product research and development to testing, certification, manufacture, selection, installation and use.

• The EU has recently updated its construction products regulation recently in the form of the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR) 2024, most of which started to apply from 7 January 2026.
• The White Paper says that the Government will use its powers under Schedule 11 of the Building Safety Act to update UK law to deliver consistency with the EU CPR 2024. The Government “intend to align timescales with the EU where possible to mitigate risks of regulatory divergence.” One aspect of this is ensuring that UK law mirrors the EU CPR 2024 definitions of key terms (such as ‘construction products’). 

• The revised definition of construction product reads as follows: 
  “any formed or formless physical item, including 3D printed products, or a kit that is placed on the market, including by means of supply to the construction site, for incorporation in a permanent manner into construction works or parts thereof with the exception of items that need first to be integrated into a kit or another construction product prior to being incorporated in a permanent manner into construction works.”
  
  
• Responsibility for ensuring that construction products are safe rests on ‘economic operators’, with the definition of this term being updated in line with EU-CPR to read as follows: 
  “the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to this Regulation in relation to the manufacturing or remanufacturing of products, including products to be reused, or to making those products available on the market, in accordance with this regulation.”
  
  
• The following will also be brought into the scope of the revised GB CPR, or the GSR:
  • Product systems.
  • Modern methods of construction.
  • Used and re-manufactured products. 
  • Key parts.
    
    
• The general point to note here is that the scope of who and what is regulated is becoming broader – and you should not assume that because you and/or your products have not been regulated in the past, that this will continue.

• Currently, an estimated 63% of construction products on the market in the UK are not regulated. This is set to change, as the Government introduces a new General Safety Requirement (GSR).
  
  
• The GSR creates a broad new legal duty “to place only ‘safe products’  on the market.” It will only apply to products that are not currently regulated and will be introduced through secondary legislation, with implementation expected by late 2027.
  
  
• In practice, this would mean there would be two mutually exclusive regulatory regimes for:
  • construction products covered by a ‘designated standard’ or ‘technical assessment’ (i.e. those products affixed with a UKCA or CE/CE UK(NI) marking). These would be regulated by The Construction Products Regulations 2013.
  • construction products not covered by a designated standard or technical assessment. These would be outside the scope of The Construction Products Regulations 2013 and would instead be subject to the GSR.
    
    
• We are told that the Government will introduce stringent penalties for breaches of the GSR, including unlimited fines and up to two years’ imprisonment.
  
  
• The scope of the GSR is the subject of a separate consultation, which closes on 20 May 2026: Consultation on the General Safety Requirement for Construction Products - GOV.UK.
  
  
• The Government says that where construction products are not covered by a designated standard, manufacturers will have a choice of regulatory pathways:
  • undergo a technical assessment. 
  • comply with the GSR.
    
    
• The White Paper says that the Government “expect industry to take steps now to prepare for the introduction of the GSR.” One way to do this – which the White Paper endorses – is to assess compliance against the British Standards Institution’s recently released Construction Products Code of Practice.
  
  
• Post-Brexit, UK Technical Assessment Bodies have been unable to use new European Assessment Documents (EADs) as the basis for a UK Technical Assessment. This will change, with the White Paper confirming that “we will recognise EADs developed after the UK left the EU.” Secondary legislation will be introduced to implement this.
  
  
• There are also plans to make product marking ‘digital ready’ by introducing a new requirement “that a data carrier (i.e. a linear bar code symbol, a two-dimensional symbol, or other automatic identification data capture medium that can be read by a device) be provided alongside the UKCA mark.” We are told there will be further engagement with industry prior to implementation.
  
  
• The details are yet to be determined, but there is an intention to apply ‘enhanced measures’ where a product or system’s failure presents a risk of life. These obligations would fall on principal designers, principal contractors and manufacturers. We are told that there will be “further engagement with industry… to ensure a proportionate approach that avoids duplication... and truly adds value.”

• Manufacturers will be subject to various new requirements, including to:
  • “evidence claims about a product’s performance relating to safety and safe use”.
  • “take all reasonable steps to comply with legitimate requests for access to test information”.
    
    
• Products subject to the GSR will also be subject to a requirement to provide comprehensive digital product information.
  
  
• The Government still says it plans to “support development of a construction [products]  library, working with industry”, but when and how this will happen remains unclear.

• We are told that reforms in this area will focus on the lack of:
  • a regime that operates in the public interest.
  • public sector testing capacity.
  • overall regulatory oversight of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).
    
    
• Perhaps the key headline in this section is a new requirement for all CABs to obtain a licence to operate from the national regulator for construction products. It is said that: “licencing regime of all CABs will enable the national regulator to enforce against poor performers and incentivise them to meet higher standards.” The White Paper seeks views on the development of said licence. 

• This chapter focuses on the role of the national construction products regulator and reviews various new sanctions that can be imposed for regulatory breaches, including:
  • a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine for breach of the GSR.
  • civil monetary penalties for construction products offences; 
  • individual liability when a company commits an offence “where the offence occurred with [the individual’s] consent, connivance or negligence”.
  • the national construction products regulator applying to the court to ban individuals from acting as company directors for up to 15 years.

The Government plans to update environmental assessment and reporting requirements in line with the EU-CPR 2024. Products subject to the GSR will not be subject to any new sustainability or environmental measures.

• This chapter contains a useful summary of the responsibilities of key industry stakeholders, including manufacturers, clients for construction work, architects & designers, contractors, building owners etc.
• There is a useful one page summary of what these responsibilities are on page 109. You can access the full information here in chapter 11, figure 8.

• This chapter sets out the following roadmap for regulatory reform:
  • Tranche 1: Regulations covering products subject to designated standards and technical assessments.
  • Tranche 2: The general safety requirement (GSR), measures drawing on existing legislative powers, and non-legislative reforms.
  • Tranche 3: Primary legislation. This tranche includes a wide range of measures such as digital licensing, offences and liabilities, public sector testing, products critical to safe construction, third-party certification and some national regulator functions.
    
    
• The White Paper closes by asking: “Do you have any views, evidence or insights regarding the impact that reforms might have regarding the costs and benefits to businesses, as well as any wider impacts?”
  
  
• Industry stakeholders will need to continue to monitor construction products regulatory reforms for strategic and compliance reasons. It may be worth responding to the White Paper (or other industry consultation opportunities mentioned in this briefing), as it is easier to shape the new regulatory regime while it is still under construction rather than after it has already been built.