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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its Construction Products Reform White Paper, setting out a comprehensive programme of regulatory reform for the UK construction products sector.
Construction products are a pivotal part of the housing and infrastructure supply chain, and the sector is critical to the UK's supply chains, growth and trade. They are in all of our buildings and infrastructure and range from basic products such as bricks, to systems or assembled products such as fire doors or cladding systems.
The reforms are driven by the lessons of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Hackitt Review, and the Morrell-Day Review, which exposed systemic failures in the existing regulatory system – as well as the Construction Products Reform Green Paper which was published in February 2025.
We set out the key headlines from the White Paper below.
Key proposals in the White Paper
1. General Safety Requirement (GSR) for all products
A central reform is the introduction of a risk-based General Safety Requirement (GSR) that will bring all construction products within the regulatory regime. Currently, only approximately one third of construction products on the UK market are covered by a designated standard and subject to existing regulations.
Accordingly, the White Paper makes it clear that:
- For products covered by a designated standard: It will remain mandatory for manufacturers to declare the performance of the product in line with the designated standard, and to provide the necessary information to demonstrate compliance, including affixing a product mark.
- For products not covered by a designated standard or subject to a technical assessment: a risk-based general safety requirement (GSR) will be introduced.
Under the GSR, manufacturers will be required to assess safety risks connected to the intended use and normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use of their products and take proportionate action to eliminate or control such risks before placing them on the market. Importers and distributors will also be subject to obligations to support product safety.
MHCLG has published a consultation on the GSR alongside the White Paper, which closes on the same date.
2. Maintaining consistency with the EU regime
The Government intends to retain consistency with the EU's new construction product regulation ((EU) 2024/3110) (EU-CPR 2024) where this meets UK objectives for safety. This includes the intention to align timescales with the EU where possible to mitigate risks of regulatory divergence. CE-marked products compliant with the EU regime will continue to be accepted in Great Britain without retesting or additional marking.
3. Enhanced requirements for products critical to safe construction
Where products are critical to safe construction and their failure presents a risk to life, e.g. fire doors, enhanced requirements will apply.
Building Regulations Principal Designers will bear responsibility for ensuring that what is specified and installed is suitable and safe for the intended use. Principal Contractors will be responsible for ensuring that installation is carried out correctly and appropriately.
The national regulator for construction products (see below for further detail) will determine which products or systems are critical to safe construction and define "safety critical scenarios" with corresponding guidance.
4. Improved product information, labelling and transparency
Manufacturers and other economic operators will be required to provide clear, accessible, and accurate product information which outlines critical safety information, and which must be accurate and understandable to the user. For third-party certification schemes, manufacturers will be required to disclose when they have undertaken tests and share any information that may affect the validity of a certificate.
For all products, the national regulator will be equipped with powers to mandate disclosure of any relevant test information to assure compliance with the law. Product information must be available digitally, including via unique identifiers and QR codes.
5. Single construction regulator
The White Paper also observes that, in response to the Grenfell Inquiry's recommendation, the Government is developing a single construction regulator. As outlined in our recent insight, the single regulator will ultimately take on responsibility for construction product regulation, as well as other functions including the Building Safety Regulator's current responsibilities. This aims to reduce fragmentation and enable greater intelligence sharing and coordinated regulatory action across the construction products and building safety regimes.
The national regulator is also expected to play a role in developing, hosting and/or utilising information held within a new "construction product library" – further information on the potential role and possible impact of the library is set out in a report published alongside the White Paper.
6. Enhanced enforcement and sanctions
The White Paper confirms that enforcement authorities will be equipped with strengthened investigation and intervention powers. Breaches will be punishable by unlimited fines or imprisonment, and the Government is consulting on new powers for civil monetary penalties as an alternative to prosecution. Additional sanctions following prosecution, including director disqualification and recovery of proceeds of crime, are also being considered.
7. Routes to redress
The Government has also committed to reviewing and improving legal routes to redress for those affected by faulty products. This includes streamlining the process to hold manufacturers accountable where defective cladding products have made buildings unfit for habitation historically. The White Paper notes that while the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) introduced a statutory framework for construction product liability through Sections 147 to 151, concerns have been raised about the practical challenges of navigating these provisions with no claims having been publicly considered by the courts to date. Accordingly, options are being explored to strengthen and potentially update those provisions of the BSA.
8. Competence and accountability
The White Paper emphasises the need for a baseline competence requirement for all those involved in designing, testing and manufacturing construction products. Clear lines of responsibility and accountability are to be established throughout the product lifecycle, from manufacture through to selection, installation and use.
When will these changes be implemented?
Reforms will be implemented in tranches, beginning with:
- Legislation for products covered by designated statements and technical assessments in Great Britain, in a way which is consistent with the EU-CPR 2024 – these will ultimately replace the existing CPR-2011 regulations.
- Alongside this, the intention is for the GSR to be brought into force using powers under the Building Safety Act 2022 – with regulations to be introduced by end of 2026 and implementation by late 2027.
- Finally, the reforms requiring primary legislation, e.g. for measures such as offences and liabilities, products critical to safe construction, third public sector testing, and the single construction regulator, will be implemented "in a future legislative session, subject to parliamentary time".
The consultation under the White Paper runs from 25 February to 20 May 2026.
Read the original article on GowlingWLG.com
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