Schedule 11: Construction products regulations Paragraphs 10 - 14 - Safety-critical products Background
This is a new provision.
	The consequences of the Grenfell Tower fire revealed there is gap in the regulation of construction products if they are not covered by an EU harmonised standard, or conform to a EU Technical Assessment (now a designated standard and UK Technical Assessment) or regulated as a consumer product. The purpose of this power is to remove this gap for products the Secretary of State identifies as safety critical, allowing such products that do not meet their claimed performance to be withdrawn from the market.
Example 1
Should the Secretary of State consider (following consultation) a particular construction product, for example a type of fire door, should be included in the safety critical list, the Secretary of State will be able to commission the creation of a standard, against which the manufacturer must declare the product’s performance, and to which standard the performance of products should consistently meet. This will mean any purchaser or user of this product will have reliable information about how it will perform, and the performance can be monitored and where necessary enforcement action taken.
Example 2
A product is added to the safety critical list. Marketing material or advertising about the performance of the product is misleading. For example, claims are made that the product is energy efficient to a certain standard, but in fact it isn’t. The Secretary of State will be able to take powers in regulations which would allow the relevant authorities to take action in relation to such a misleading performance claim, initially by requiring the misleading information to be corrected. This could go as far as requiring the product to be removed from the market until the misleading claims are rectified, with the potential for penalties up to, and including, fines or even imprisonment in certain circumstances.