Manufacturing & Engineering UK-wide

Place rubber and plastic products on the market: conformity and product safety

If you make rubber or plastic products to sell — plastic builders' ware, tyres, food-contact articles and packaging, or general plastic goods — they must be safe and, where a product regime applies, meet that regime and carry conformity marking before you place them on the market. This guide takes you through construction products, tyre safety, food-contact materials, and the residual general product safety duty.

Guide summary

Make sure your rubber or plastic products are safe and meet the right rules before you sell them. For plastic builders’ ware, you must draw up a Declaration of Performance and put a UKCA or CE mark on the product. Check which regime applies for tyres, food-contact items, or general goods — and follow separate rules for Northern Ireland.

  • Identify which product regime applies: construction, tyre, food-contact, or general safety
  • Draw up a Declaration of Performance for plastic builders' ware before selling
  • Affix UKCA or CE marking to construction products covered by a designated standard
  • Keep the Declaration of Performance for 10 years from when you place the product on the market
  • Supply the Declaration with each product, either on paper, by email, or on a website
  • Use a UK Approved Body for UKCA marking or an EU Notified Body for CE marking
  • Follow separate rules if you supply Northern Ireland — it follows EU product rules
  • Contact OPSS or local Trading Standards if you are unsure about your duties
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Related guides in General Compliance

If you manufacture rubber or plastic products to sell, you must make sure they are safe and meet the right regime before you place them on the market. Which regime applies depends on the product. Plastic builders' ware follows construction-products rules; tyres follow type-approval rules; food-contact articles and packaging follow food-contact-materials rules; and goods that fall outside any specific regime must still meet the general product safety duty.

The construction-products, tyre and general-product-safety regimes are Great Britain market-access regimes. UKCA is the GB conformity mark where one is required, but CE marking also continues to be accepted on the GB market. 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. Plastic builders' ware and construction products

Plastic builders' ware covered by a designated standard — PVC-U windows, doors, cladding, rainwater goods and pipes, for example — 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 the assessment and verification of constancy of performance system that applies under the assimilated Construction Products Regulation. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) leads, enforced with local Trading Standards.

B. Tyres

New and retreaded tyres for road use must meet UN/ECE type-approval standards — retreads to UNECE Regulations 108 and 109 — carry the required construction and marking, and meet the tyre-labelling requirements for fuel efficiency, wet grip and noise. The Vehicle Certification Agency administers UK type approval. Residual safety for tyres outside type approval sits under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

C. Food-contact materials and articles

If your product is intended to come into contact with food — plastic tableware, food storage containers, kitchenware or food packaging — it must comply with the framework Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and the plastics Regulation (EU) 10/2011 (the positive list of authorised substances and migration limits), follow good manufacturing practice, and be supplied with a declaration of compliance. This is enforced by the Food Standards Agency with local authorities and Trading Standards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by Food Standards Scotland in Scotland; each nation has its own Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations. It applies only to food-contact products, not the many non-food plastic goods in this class.

D. General product safety (the residual duty)

Rubber and plastic 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, toys, electrical, food-contact articles — you meet that regime's essential requirements and carry its 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, a tyre, a food-contact article or packaging, or falls under general product safety only.

  2. 2

    2. Meet the regime's essential requirements

    Find the designated standard and conformity route for construction products; the type-approval standard for tyres; and the positive list and migration limits for food-contact materials.

  3. 3

    3. Set up your technical documentation and declarations

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

  4. 4

    4. Apply the right marking before sale

    Apply conformity marking — UKCA, or CE which is still accepted on the GB market — where a regime requires it, 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 chemicals duties every manufacturer shares. Make sure those are in place with Set up and run a safe rubber or plastics factory. If you make plastic packaging, also follow Meet packaging producer responsibility and Plastic Packaging Tax, then confirm everything with the rubber and plastics manufacturer compliance checklist.

Official sources

Authoritative guidance on construction products, tyres, food-contact materials and product safety.