Door Industry Journal - Spring 2021

121 THE door industry journal spring 2021 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Locks & Building Hardware It should be stressed that any goods already in the supply chain – and which have been made and shipped in good faith, before the new marks came into effect – remain wholly valid and legal. There is no need to scrap, return or replace such goods. Whose responsibility is it? It is everyone’s responsibility, throughout the supply chain, to ensure that properly certified and marked products are specified to suit the end application. While it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure their products conform to the standards, it is the final reseller’s responsibility to ensure the products they stock and sell are fit for purpose. For instance, hardware covered by an EU harmonised standard being fitted onto a fire door must be appropriately marked. If a product that does not conform is sold by a builders’ merchant to a customer – such as a non-marked hinge ending up on a fire door – there could be a thorough investigation, as well as potentially significant fines and penalties to face for everyone from the manufacturer to the reseller to the specifier. Therefore, it is critical that everyone involved has a solid understanding of what the correct product marking entails and the timescales that are being worked towards. What is UNION doing? UNION is taking the essential steps so that everyone in the supply chain can have complete confidence in its fire door hardware products, ensuring they have undergone the correct third-party marking for goods being sold into either Great Britain or Northern Ireland. From the beginning of 2021 for Great Britain, all of UNION’s new products have been CE marked using an EU notified body, if they are intended to be used on fire doors or if it’s electro-mechanical hardware. UNION is progressing UKCA marking for these solutions too, ensuring they are properly certified and marked in time for the 1 January 2022 deadline. In Northern Ireland, for existing door hardware solutions that are CE marked by a UK-based notified body, UNION has transferred certification to or has re-certified products with an EU-based notified body. In addition, all new products sold into Northern Ireland are now either CE marked by an EU-based notified body, or a UK-based approved body is being used to gain UKNI marking, alongside the UK-registered CE mark approval. Finally, no matter where in the UK products are being sold, all relevant documents – such as Declaration of Performance or Declaration of Conformity, product packaging, marketing materials and instruction manuals – are being updated accordingly. * All businesses throughout the door hardware supply chain can and should work to ensure that they make the most of the opportunities available in this new chapter of the UK’s manufacturing history. If everyone does their due diligence, electro-mechanical solutions, fire door products, panic exit devices, door hinges and closers will all meet the health, safety and performance standards that they are meant to. Let’s work together to get this right for our industry. To find out more about ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland please visit www.assaabloyopeningsolutions.co.uk, email AASS-Forum@assaabloy.com or call 0845 223 2124.