Green Paper proposes sweeping reforms to construction products regulations

The June 2017 Grenfell Tower fire exposed serious failings in the United Kingdom’s regulatory system for construction products. The Construction Products Reform Green Paper is a major new initiative to remedy those failings. It consulted on various proposals to ensure that construction products are safe – and used safely.

We’re currently awaiting the government’s response to the consultation questions the Green Paper raised. In her foreword, then Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner observed that: “The construction products sector is both large and complex. The necessary changes will require significant, long-term efforts from both government and industry. But shared responsibility does not mean diluted accountability. Each company, each person, must know precisely where they are responsible.”

This briefing provides a concise summary of chapters of 156 pages of the Green Paper, focusing on proposed regulatory changes and who they would affect.

The introduction to the Green Paper reminds us of the steps the Government has taken on construction products reform, including the creation of two new regulators in 2021:

• The National Regulator for Construction Products, whose role is “to provide market surveillance to uncover and respond to safety concerns”.
• The Building Safety Regulator, whose role is “to oversee the safety and performance of all buildings”.

Chapter 1: Overview of the construction products sector and regulatory regime

The Construction Products Regulations 2013 are the cornerstone of the regulatory regime for construction products in the United Kingdom. This legislation originated from the EU and remains closely aligned with the EU regime.

These regulations apply to around one third of construction products. When the regulations apply, there is a requirement to obtain a UKCA or CE mark before placing a product on the market (there's a useful diagram on page 24 of the Green Paper which represents the approval process). The remaining two thirds of construction products are, perhaps rather surprisingly, currently unregulated.

The introduction observes that “whilst some changes have been made by government to drive safety following the Grenfell Tower Tragedy in 2017, they have been piecemeal and limited.”

Many different institutions have some level of responsibility for construction products regulations, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, the Department for Business and Trade, the National Regulator for Construction Products, the Building Safety Regulator, Local Authority Trading Standards, Building Control, the British Standards Institution, United Kingdom Accreditation Service, conformity assessment bodies and technical assessment bodies.

Chapter 2: An overview of the problems

This chapter identifies the following issues:

• Insufficient focus on product safety.
• The limited coverage of the existing regulatory regime.
• A lack of competency, rigour and transparency in key institutions responsible for product certification and testing.
• Poor availability of product information.
• Misleading marketing and false claims.
• Insufficient enforcement by the regulators. On this score, the Green Paper cites the following statement from the Morrell-Day Review: “Enforcement has been almost totally non-existent, so that bad actors feel they can bypass the regulations without consequence.”

Chapter 3: Our vision for reform

This chapter identifies various stakeholders that will be responsible for making reforms work. This includes manufacturers, distributors, importers, marketers, specifiers, designers, developers, contracts and subcontractors, installers and insurers.

From an industry perspective, the reforms will mean:

• Taking responsibility to ensure that products are safe as standard, from design through to manufacture, testing and use.
• Clearer regulations and guidance and more collaboration with regulators.
• Providing clear and honest information about products.
• A fairer regime, that punishes bad actors, enabling firms that do things right to compete.

Chapter 4: Interaction with the UK internal market and the EU

This chapter notes that the EU is reforming its own construction product regulations, with most changes coming into force on 7 January 2026. This will include new requirements, such as:

• Requiring manufacturers to provide guidance on how to ensure product safety during transport, installation, maintenance, use and deconstruction, and to outline a product’s compatibility if used in a system or kit.
• Establishing a database of construction products and a requirement for all products to have a "digital product passport" (an initiative which aims to enhance transparency, traceability, and sustainability throughout the product lifecycle).

This chapter indicates it is likely that the government will move to ensure that it will update the Construction Products Regulations 2013 to reflect new EU requirements, minimising friction for those importing and exporting construction products.

Chapter 5: Scope and definitions of reform

It’s proposed that the UK follow the revised EU Construction Product Regulations by amending the definition of construction products to cover not only products, but also:

• "Key parts" of products.
• "Parts of materials intended to be used for products".
• "Used products" (this would also include recycled products).

The general effect of the above is that the scope of existing construction products regulation will expand.

Chapter 6: Product requirements – a regulatory approach based on safety risk

The headline proposal in this chapter is to introduce a ‘risk based general safety requirement’ (Page 59 of the green paper includes a useful diagram explaining how the general safety requirement would operate in practice). for the two thirds of construction products that are currently unregulated. What does that mean? The Building Safety Act 2022 (for the purposes of Schedule 11) contains a definition of a ‘safe product if under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, does not present any risk to the health and safety risks of persons or (if it does pose such a risk, the risk is as low as it can be compatible with using the product).'

Under the general safety requirement, manufacturers would need to:

• Carry out risk assessments and take steps to eliminate or minimise risk.
• Provide information about a product’s intended use, the risks associated with it and installation advice.
• Label products with their trademark and company details to ensure traceability.

This chapter also contains various other proposals, such as strengthening regulatory requirements for products that
the regulator determines are "products critical to safe construction".

The Green Paper acknowledges that “only a small proportion of problems occurring on construction projects are
attributable to defective products, as opposed to the way they are used and installed.” Views were sought on what the government could do to support the industry to achieve this.

Chapter 7: Clear and accessible information

This chapter contains two recommendations, both of which originated from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase II report:

• To require that construction product testing information be made accessible to the people selecting and using those products, free of charge.
• To create a "construction products library" providing information about the safe and appropriate use of products.

The details of both of these proposals have yet to be worked out. Various other ideas to improve access to product information are also discussed, including using some form of digital labelling (perhaps similar to the EU’s proposed Digital Product Passport) to track product information. Such information might include the following:

• Who made it.
• What is it made from.
• How is it supposed to be used and installed.
• Its environmental impact.
• How it can be repaired, re-used or recycled.

Chapter 8: Assurance and oversight of testing and conformity assessment

The Grenfell Tower Phase II Inquiry recommended that the construction regulator take on responsibility for assessing whether construction products meet all legal and regulatory requirements. The green paper doesn't endorse this idea, noting that:

“...we need to ensure we do not introduce conflicts of interest [which would arise]...if one body were to undertake both the issuing of [product] conformity assessment certificates and regulation of that.”

The fundamental question this chapter asks is: who should undertake product conformity assessments and how should that be overseen? The green paper makes a number of proposals in relation to conformity assessment bodies (CABs):

• Requiring CABs to be licensed by the national regulator (by this they mean the National Regulator for Construction Products), with the regulator vetting whether they're carrying out their role effectively (and having the power to withdraw licenses and suspend CABs from operating).
• Introducing a statutory code of practice for CABs requiring them to do things like meet industry best practice, act independently when assessing manufacturers and declare conflicts of interest.
• Introducing a requirement for CABs to report (eg, annually, to the national regulator) summarising the nature and outcomes of their work.

The Green Paper recognises that new regulatory requirements will place greater pressure on UK CABs and asks whether there's merit in recognising conformity assessment work done by CABs established outside the UK. It also offers thoughts on the future role of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and the British Standards Institution.

Chapter 9: Regulating the market

This chapter focuses on proposals to strengthen the enforcement regime, noting various steps that have already been take since Grenfell, including:

• Enforcement action against insulation manufacturer Kingspan by the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP).
• New powers in the Building Safety Act allowing those who have suffered losses due to building safety defects to pursue manufacturers to pay remediation costs.

This chapter also outlines the NRCP’s proposed role in enforcing the enhanced regulatory regime for construction products. It has this to say about the NRCP’s approach to enforcement:

“In most cases, we would expect non-compliance to be resolved through engagement...through an undertaking to address issues identified with a product or system. This reflects an approach that supports businesses to comply with the regulations.”

With that said, the Green Paper says the government is considering the possibility of criminal sanctions for various failures to comply with new regulatory requirements such as:

• Accurate product information and labelling.
• Non-compliance with enforcement action by the regulator.

This chapter also sought views on the merits of legislating to:

• Make employers vicariously liable for employees who contravene construction products regulations.
• Make individuals directing the behaviour of a company liable for that company’s failure to comply with construction products regulations.

Other measures considered include giving regulators the authority to:

• Request product samples and issue improvement notices (with enforcement costs being paid by the company under investigation).
• Suspend or prohibit a manufacturer from supplying certain products.
• Issue civil monetary penalties.
• Prohibit negligent individuals from working in the construction products industry again.

Chapter 10: Environment and sustainability

This chapter outlines various sustainability related measures the EU is taking to improve the sustainability of construction products, considering their entire life cycle. It doesn't offer concrete proposals for that the government intends to do in this area.

Chapter 12: Next steps

As chapter 11 isn't relevant, we'll move straight onto chapter 12. The consultation questions in the Green Paper closed on 21 May 2025. The green papers notes that:

“...further technical consultations may… be conducted to develop and test more detailed policy, as firm proposals emerge.”

The government will set out its response to the consultation and the next steps for long-term reform in due course. When is change coming? We’re not sure. The green paper notes on the one hand that “the need to start the journey to reform is urgent” and that “we want to implement our reforms at the earliest opportunity”, but on the other hand, “affected businesses would require a grace period” and it's important to avoid “regulatory gaps, unintended consequences or uncertainty for business.”

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