There is just under a month left to go until the mandatory CE Marking comes into force on July 1st. I can’t help but think that some still are not ready for the transition.
For example, I see that most of the major systems companies have been offering seminars for the last few months on CE Marking, and other major manufacturers have also been showing off their readiness over Twitter and other social media platforms. However there is still a large amount I have seen not mentioning anything about it. Also, going on personal experience, I know there are a lot of suppliers not ready at all either.
Still, their un-readiness won’t be a problem I don’t think as I still can’t envision an effective force to police the whole scheme. I think a lot of the reporting of non-compliance is going to be relied upon the industry dobbing other companies in. But who genuinely has the time or the will power to spend grassing other companies up for non-compliance? I know I don’t. And even if we were to, due to previous previous unsuccessful dobbings, do we think anything would actually be done?
Apparently, there is a large fine and potential jail time for those being caught not complying. But I do wonder how serious the threat of jail time is. A fine is much more likely given the over-crowded state of the prison system and money being of far more value right now.
I did spend a bit of time thinking about the possible consumer advantages of CE Marking, but given that everyone has to take part in this, no one will have an advantage over another so no USP there.
I still think there remains a lot of grey areas when it comes to installers and their new classification of “manufacturers” if they source two products separately and put them together on site. I have been shown various bits of text which COULD point to some cases where installers could be exempt, but are not exactly clear. This is where the biggest questions still remain.
Personally I think it’s just another bit of European meddling where there didn’t need to be. British industry was coping well enough before CE Marking. But who are we to argue?!
This is also a little reminder that the new version of DGB goes live this time next week! I am in the final stages of planning, getting some extra guest content for the site in and deciding on a few final details. I’m hoping that you will all have a good look at my new home!
Unless an installer is extruding its own upvc and making its own sealed units, it is not a manufacturer in the true sense. All they are is a fabricator. However, for CE purposes the term ‘manufacturer is ambiguous.
CE will be one sign of compliance to a certain set of requirements – but the BSI ‘Kite Mark’ and BBA certifications will be a more reassuring standard for consumers to have trust in and as a reference.