Why am I still seeing ‘CE’ on architectural ironmongery?

Posted on: 01.07.2021
CE mark logo with arrow to UKCA mark logo

Door Controls Direct’s Mike Trowbridge explains why some architectural ironmongery products still display a ‘Conformité Européenne’ (CE) mark, despite Britain having left the European Union more than 6 months ago…

As we all know, Britain officially left the European Union at midnight on 31 January 2020. Until then, architectural ironmongery products (as well as all kinds of other goods) were required to display a ‘CE’ mark - CE standing for ‘Conformité Européenne’.

Now I wasn’t the best at French at school, but even I can see that CE means ‘European Conformity’ and therefore any goods displaying ‘CE’ are conforming with standards set by the EU. However, as we’ve already left the EU, why am I still seeing some AI products with a CE mark?

The answer is fairly simple. Firstly, products are rarely sold immediately after manufacture. They will move from manufacturer, to wholesaler, to retailer and sit in storage for periods of time, depending on levels of demand and so on. 

As such, a transition period has been allowed for a new UKCA mark to be adopted in Britain, UKCA standing for ‘UK Conformity Assessment’. The UK Government has extended the deadline and so, from 1 January 2023, CE marking will no longer be recognised in Great Britain and products sold must display UKCA to be valid for sale. This means ‘CE’ is OK for now, but only until the end of the year. 

As a result, for now you may see some products marked CE. You may also see some products marked UKCA. It is even possible you will see products marked both UKCA and CE! The important thing is that it carries at least one of these marks until the end of this year.

The situation is further complicated by what is known as the ‘Northern Ireland Protocol’, which I won’t go into detail about, but basically CE marking there will continue. Goods sold in Northern Ireland may also display a UKNI conformity marking, if they’ve undergone assessment by a UK approved body of NI Notified body. 

As you can see, this whole change brings some complications and the GAI (Guild of Architectural Ironmongery) has produced some excellent and comprehensive guidance about the whole subject here if you’d like to read up on it all. 

However, the really important thing to know is if you receive a product marked CE up until the end of 2021, that’s OK. After that, it should be marked UKCA, whether it carries a CE mark or not.

Author: Door Controls Direct Posted by: Door Controls Direct

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