Placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain

Last updated 22 May 2024

This guidance is for placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain (GB). Great Britain is England, Wales and Scotland.

Different guidance is available if you're:

• placing manufactured products on the EU market
• placing manufactured products on the market in Northern Ireland

Overview

UK conformity assessment (UKCA) marking is used on products placed on the market in Great Britain (GB). It shows that products comply with requirements in legislation applying in GB.

This page applies to the following areas:

• toys
• pyrotechnics
• recreational craft and personal watercraft
• simple pressure vessels
• electromagnetic compatibility
• non-automatic weighing instruments
• measuring instruments
• measuring container bottles
• lifts
• equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres (UKEX)
• radio equipment
• pressure equipment
• personal protective equipment (PPE)
• gas appliances
• machinery
• equipment for use outdoors
• aerosol dispensers
• low voltage electrical equipment

You can find information on these regulations in our using the UKCA marking guidance.

You will still need to take action to ensure you comply with importer responsibilities if you’re placing a product on the GB market from outside the UK.

Check which rules apply

What you need to do depends on the type of goods you're placing on the GB market. You must make sure that your products meet GB rules. You'll need to do this even if they were previously sold in an EU country.

Most of this page covers goods subject to the UKCA or CE marking.

There are different rules for products regulated under other regulatory frameworks, such as:

• chemicals
• medicines
• veterinary medicines
• vehicles
• aerospace

There are also specific rules for other products such as:

• medical devices
• construction products
• marine equipment
• rail products
• cableways
• transportable pressure equipment
• unmanned aircraft systems
• hazardous substances (RoHS)
• ecodesign
• civil explosives
• cosmetics
• tobacco products
• fertilisers

Read more about which regulations apply to your products and how to comply with them. For some products, you must comply with more than one set of regulations.

You can speak to your solicitor or trade association if you are unsure which regulations apply to your products.

Placing products on the market

A product is placed on the market when it is first made available for distribution, consumption or use on the GB market as part of a commercial activity. This can be in return for payment or free of charge.

This happens after a product has been fully manufactured. A product is placed on the market when an offer or agreement is made for the transfer of ownership, possession or any other property right. Placing on the market can take place before the physical transfer of a product. It does not necessarily require the physical handover of a product.

Proof that a product has been placed on the market includes documents typically used in business transactions – for example:

• contracts of sale for goods
• invoices
• shipping documents for goods

'Placing a product on the market' refers to individual products and not a type of product.

Example of a GB-based manufacturer placing a product on the market

A GB based toy manufacturer contracts to supply fully manufactured toys to a shop in GB on 1 January 2023. This agreement constitutes placing the toys on the GB market on 1 January 2023 - even if the toys are physically delivered after that.

Example of an overseas manufacturer placing a product on the market

An overseas electronics manufacturer contracts to sell individually identifiable and fully manufactured products to an end user (a consumer, for example) who is resident in GB. This constitutes placing on the GB market.

Circulation of products on the GB market

If you placed products on either the GB or EU market using the CE marking before 11pm on 31 December 2020, these products can continue to circulate on either market until they reach their end user.

The relevant economic operator (whether manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor) must provide proof, if requested, to show that the product was placed on the market before 11pm on 31 December 2020.

Find out more about economic operators and their responsibilities.

Products sold online

Fully manufactured products are considered placed on the GB market if all of the following are true:

• an offer is made for the transfer of ownership, possession or any other property right in the product online
• the offer is targeted at GB end users

The location of the products is not decisive; placing on the market can take place before you physically transfer them to the GB market.

Transactions between economic operators established outside of the UK do not constitute placing on the GB market where the product is not destined for the GB market.

Products imported for further manufacture and components

When products are imported into GB for further manufacture or processing, they are not considered placed on the market. Only fully manufactured products can be considered placed on the market. Under these circumstances, the GB manufacturer of the finished product has the sole and ultimate responsibility for ensuring it is compliant before placing it on the GB market.

A finished product must be compliant with all applicable legislation when placed on the GB market. Components may be placed on the market separately and can constitute a fully manufactured product in their own right. This may include a requirement for the components of the product to be individually conformity assessed and marked.

Manufacturers should check product-specific legislation for further details. See the guidance on spare parts.

However, for many products, a single marking covering the overall product is sufficient. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to check the conformity assessment requirements for their product and the components within them.

If you sell components separately that were once part of an assembly or installation, you must make sure they continue to meet the requirements in place when they were first placed on the GB market as part of an assembly or installation.

If the components required CE marking at the time they were first placed on the GB market, then the person selling the components must check they are currently CE marked. They must also check they are properly labelled and accompanied by the required documents.

If the person selling the components has reason to believe they do not meet the requirements (including any essential safety requirements), they must not make them available.

Partly completed machinery

There are specific provisions on 'partly completed machinery/. Partly completed machinery is covered by the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008.

Please see the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 for more information.

Spare parts

Products which are repaired, refurbished or exchanged without changing their original performance, purpose, or type, are not considered ‘new’ and therefore do not need to be recertified and remarked.

This includes if the product is temporarily exported for repair (as the product is not being placed on the GB market for the first time when re-imported).

Repair, replacement and maintenance operations are often carried out using other products which are spare parts. Spare parts are considered to have been placed on the market at the time at which the original product or system they are ultimately intended to repair, replace or maintain was placed on the market.

This means that spare parts can comply with the same conformity assessment requirements that were in place at the time the original product or system they are ultimately intended to repair, replace or maintain was placed on the market.

The definition of a spare part will vary depending on the commercial context, but it is broadly determined by a product’s ultimate intended usage. Whether a product is ultimately intended to be used as a spare part should be evidenced by any document demonstrating this intended use, which should be produced when requested by market surveillance authorities.

If the product has been subject to important changes, substantially changing its original performance, purpose, or type, it will be considered as a ‘new’ product. Therefore, the modified product must comply with GB regulatory requirements at the time the product is first placed on the market or put into service.

This guidance is intended to sit alongside existing provisions for spare parts in the regulations and continues established practice in GB.

Prototypes and testing

Prototypes which are not yet made available for distribution, consumption or use on the GB market do not require UKCA marking. However, the prototype must only be displayed or demonstrated under controlled conditions at trade fairs or exhibitions in GB.

This means the product needs to be operated by experts, there must be restricted public contact with the product, the product must not interact inappropriately with other neighbouring products, and it must be clearly indicated on a sign that the product does not meet the GB requirements and will not be made available until it does.

Products undergoing testing or validating pre-production of units do not require UKCA marking. They are still considered to be in the stage of manufacture and therefore have not been placed on the GB market.

However, fully manufactured products intended for consumer testing need to meet the UK requirements as they apply in GB at the time the consumer testing takes place.

Leasing and hiring

Transfer of ownership, possession, or any property right of an individual product is considered to have taken place in the circumstances of a sale, a loan, hiring and leasing.

The repeated leasing, loaning, and hiring of a product constitutes further ‘making available’ and therefore does not require re-marking. However, before every leasing, loaning, or hiring the person leasing out, loaning out or hiring out the product will need to check that the requirements are still met.

The date a product is placed on the market can be demonstrated by any document ordinarily used in business transactions, for example a contract of sale or invoice which details the serial number of the product.

Second-hand products

In most cases, second-hand goods are treated in the same way as new goods when placed on the market in Great Britain. If second hand products are further made available, they must meet the requirements that were in place when they were first placed on the market, unless there is specific provision to the contrary. If second-hand goods have been substantially modified, there may be a need for re-assessment and remarking.

First published 2 September 2020