Manufacturing & Engineering UK-wide

Place fabricated metal products on the market: conformity and UKCA marking

If you make metal products to sell — structural steelwork, boilers and pressure vessels, or general metal goods — they must be safe and, where a product regime applies, carry conformity marking before you place them on the Great Britain market. This guide takes you through construction products and structural steel, pressure equipment, and the residual general product safety duty.

Guide summary

You must make sure your metal products are safe and carry the right conformity marking before selling them in Great Britain. Use UKCA or CE marking for structural steel, pressure equipment, and other metal goods. Follow the rules for your product type or meet the general safety duty if no specific rules apply.

  • Check which rules apply to your product: construction products, pressure equipment, or general safety
  • Use UKCA or CE marking on structural steel and pressure equipment before selling
  • Draw up a Declaration of Performance for construction products covered by a standard
  • Keep the Declaration of Performance for 10 years after placing the product on the market
  • Supply the Declaration of Performance with each product or batch in English
  • Use a UK Approved Body for UKCA marking or an EU Notified Body for CE marking
  • Contact OPSS or Trading Standards if you need help with construction product rules
On this page

Related guides in General Compliance

If you manufacture metal products to sell, you must make sure they are safe and meet the right conformity regime before you place them on the market. Which regime applies depends on the product. Structural steel and load-bearing metal components follow construction-products rules; boilers and pressurised vessels follow pressure-equipment rules; and metal goods that fall outside any specific regime must still meet the general product safety duty.

These are Great Britain market-access regimes. UKCA is the GB conformity mark, but CE marking also continues to be accepted on the GB market, so for these regimes you can use either. If you also supply the Northern Ireland market, check the position separately — Northern Ireland follows EU product rules under the Windsor Framework, so the marking and conformity route can differ. Work through the regimes that apply to what you make.

A. Structural steel and construction products

Structural steelwork and load-bearing metal components covered by a designated standard — for example fabricated structural steel to BS EN 1090 — must have a declaration of performance and carry conformity marking — UKCA, or CE marking, which continues to be accepted on the GB market — before being placed on the GB market, with execution-class factory production control. Assessment and verification of constancy of performance follow the assimilated Construction Products Regulation, enforced by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) with local Trading Standards.

B. Boilers and pressure equipment

Boilers and pressurised vessels above the pressure and volume thresholds are pressure equipment under the Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016. They must meet the essential safety requirements, undergo the appropriate conformity-assessment module — using an approved body for the higher categories — carry conformity marking (UKCA, or CE which is still accepted on the GB market) and be supplied with instructions. OPSS is the lead market-surveillance authority, enforced with local Trading Standards. In-service pressure plant reads across to the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000.

C. General product safety (the residual duty)

Metal products placed on the GB market must be safe. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 are the residual safety duty that applies where no specific product regime covers your product. Where a specific regime does apply — construction products, pressure equipment, machinery — you meet that regime's essential requirements and carry UKCA marking instead. General product safety is enforced by OPSS with local Trading Standards.

  1. 1

    1. Identify the regime for each product

    Decide whether your product is a construction product, pressure equipment, machinery, or falls under general product safety only.

  2. 2

    2. Find the designated standard and conformity route

    For construction products, identify the designated standard (e.g. BS EN 1090) and execution class; for pressure equipment, identify the category and whether an approved body is needed.

  3. 3

    3. Set up factory production control

    Put the factory production control and technical documentation in place to support your declaration of performance or declaration of conformity.

  4. 4

    4. Draw up the declaration and apply conformity marking

    Issue the declaration of performance or conformity and apply conformity marking — UKCA, or CE which is still accepted on the GB market — before placing the product on the GB market.

  5. 5

    5. Check Northern Ireland separately if you supply there

    Northern Ireland follows EU product rules under the Windsor Framework, so confirm the marking and conformity route that applies before you supply the NI market.

What to do next

Product conformity sits on top of the workplace and registration duties every fabricator shares. Make sure those are in place with Set up and run a safe metal fabrication workshop, then confirm you have covered everything with the fabricated metal manufacturer compliance checklist.

Official sources

Authoritative guidance on construction products, pressure equipment and product safety.