UK-based cable certification body BASEC outlines post-Brexit plan
BASEC will operate in both the UK and EU via separate Notified Bodies (NB) from the start of 2021
Independent accredited certification body for the cable industry BASEC has told clients that they will need to gain parallel certification for the UK market after 31 December, 2020.
While the UK government says construction products regulation (CPR) will match EU certification rules after the end of the Brexit transition period in 2021, BASEC is urging companies to take the option of transferring now to the UK standard as gaining the certification will require new testing/auditing from 1 January 2021.
BASEC UK will also cease to be an EU27 notified body while automatically gaining status as a UK approved body on that date.
A BASEC spokesperson told MECN.com that the body also set up a new legal entity in Ireland earlier this year (“a process started 9 months prior”) to ensure it could continue to operate as a notified body (NB) in the EU post-Brexit.
“It is worth noting for CPR testing, we will offer Systems 1+ and System 3 for UKCA post 1st Jan 2021, but only offer the higher fire performance classifications of systems 1+ for the EU from this date. There is a time pressure on the cable industry because at present if they look to transfer from another NB to comply with UKCA ahead of 31st Dec, we will assess existing test reports and test a minimum of 25% of the samples, to expediate the approvals (this of course will be assessed on a case by case, based on manufacturer quality/correlation of findings with our new testing and the existing NB).
“CPR (the constructions product regulation in the EU) is a mandatory requirement all building products must have a fire classification – UKCA is a mirror of CPR and will replace the CPR CE marking used in the EU at present, so manufacturers of cable will need both to be able to trade (that is sell their product manufactured in the UAE to these markets) in the UK & EU (or if they just want to trade in the EU, we’ll still support the CPR testing of systems 1+ for Europe).”
In a statement, BASEC clarified why it believes now is the time for clients to consider transferring the certifications of products.
“On the surface it appears that there is a further year before definitive action must be taken, however, the below statement brings into focus some urgency, in respect to how transfer of certification between NB’s will need to happen: ‘Where a UK notified body (which becomes a UK approved body) had carried out tasks or issued certification in relation to the Assessment and Verification of Performance (AVCP) for a product before 1st January 2021, then those tasks and/or that certification may be used to support affixing of the UK marking if the product is placed on the GB market after this date’.”
“This means, for all current BASEC customers that have AVCP system 1+ with BASEC it is permissible for BASEC to use this information in support of UK marking i.e. there will be no need for additional parallel auditing/testing. Additionally, any transfers that occur before 1st January 2021 will constitute tasks and the same will apply. Anything after this date will require full parallel testing/auditing.
“Under the group of notified bodies (GNB) transfer guidance, there is the possibility of cooperation with the current issuing notified body of a customer. This would involve a desktop review of all Initial visit reports, FPC, CoCP and testing. It would then be at BASEC’s discretion of how to validate this information, as it cannot simply be “taken as read”. It would be BASEC’s intention to review all documentation including CoCP and test reports for alignment with CPR requirements. Upon successful review BASEC would then establish a test programme, on a risk basis, as to how many tests would be required to verify alignment between the testing of the issuing NB and BASEC. Successful completion of this process would lead to certificate transfer.
“At this stage, all system 3 documentation remains valid as previously communicated. BASEC will continue to offer classification reports for existing customers for UKCA system 3, but may wish to retest, dependent on the age of the original test.”
