Construction Product Testing Independent Review Published

THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW of the Construction Product Testing Regime led by Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day KC has been published.

The purpose of the Review was to:

• to identify any potential weaknesses in the system and
• to make recommendations for improvement.

The authors of the report say that construction product testing had evolved into a complex and decentralised regulatory environment when the UK joined the EU. The report paints a picture of manufacturers being trusted to comply with the Construction Products Regulation 2011 and enforcement being ‘devolved’ to individual member states.

After the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which killed 72 people, the products used in the Tower’s construction, the way they were specified, and design and construction accountability, came under huge scrutiny.

The Grenfell disaster and the UK’s exit from the EU have been the impetus to review construction product testing and certification.

Independent Review

Now the report proposes that all construction products are brought into the scope of the ‘Construction Products Regime’, which the authors envisage as a system operating holistically, rather than relying on individual standards or regulations.

It reiterates the role of enforcement and the two new regulators, a National Regulator for Construction Products, based in the Office for Product Safety and Standards within the government Department for Business and Trade, and the Building Safety Regulator based in the Health & Safety Executive.

Construction product manufacturers will be required to share technical documentation with the National Regulator for Construction Products. This is designed to force manufacturers to honestly report and communicate the performance of their construction products.

The authors also recommend extending a Declaration of Performance requirement to all construction products.

The report expresses some doubts about the efficacy of enforcement, the ability of Trading Standards to take on the new area of construction and whether products can be followed from manufacture to installation and their traceability – the golden thread.

The report says that the changes to UKAS-CE marking could be an opportunity to make testing simpler and to reflect national priorities “if continuing alignment with the EU single market is not an objective.”

Two-Level System

It proposes a two-level system, of safety critical products, and those that meet a general safety requirement. Only the former would need to be subject to the six steps of the existing Assessment and Verification of Constancy of Performance (AVCP) testing regime to create a Declaration of Performance. Other products only required to meet a general safety requirement might still voluntarily choose to be third-party certified.

The report says government should use its buying power to require designers and contractors to evidence ‘safe building outcomes’. It also says industry needs to be engaged on building safety by government programmes.

Lastly, the report says the body of knowledge about fire and building safety as a whole needs to be more cohesive. The concluding comments sets out the clear areas of responsibility of the various construction sectors and roles.

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