Importing electrical items from outside EU - UKCA etc
Discussion
Wondering if anyone has experience of importing electrical items from e.g. China
Thinking about importing a small qty of lighting items. I have only ever imported non electrical items before so after some advice on what is legally required to check they are safe and certified for UK electrical equipment safety regulations if I chose to resell.
They would be UK mains powered going to a 240v to 12v transformer which is CE/UKCA certified then some LED lights.
Does the finished unit need certifying or if the transformer is certified and stamped with CE/UKCA is this OK? Also does finished lighting unit need to have manufacturer /importer details on or only the transformer?
I think the regulations apply to 50V+, presume that relates to input power rather than output?
Anyone know and happy to share some knowledge or if for example the units need testing can anyone put me in touch with a company that does this?
Just trying to decide if it’s worth the effort e.g. if there is a lot involved as obviously want to ensure the lighting units are safe and comply to regulations which may be more involved than e.g. importing and selling a note pad!
Thanks
Thinking about importing a small qty of lighting items. I have only ever imported non electrical items before so after some advice on what is legally required to check they are safe and certified for UK electrical equipment safety regulations if I chose to resell.
They would be UK mains powered going to a 240v to 12v transformer which is CE/UKCA certified then some LED lights.
Does the finished unit need certifying or if the transformer is certified and stamped with CE/UKCA is this OK? Also does finished lighting unit need to have manufacturer /importer details on or only the transformer?
I think the regulations apply to 50V+, presume that relates to input power rather than output?
Anyone know and happy to share some knowledge or if for example the units need testing can anyone put me in touch with a company that does this?
Just trying to decide if it’s worth the effort e.g. if there is a lot involved as obviously want to ensure the lighting units are safe and comply to regulations which may be more involved than e.g. importing and selling a note pad!
Thanks
Thanks for the link which look really useful. They also seem to run 1-2 day courses which sound like they would cover what I need to know and I’m happy to learn - as you say, I just don’t want to throw money away on test labs and consultants without getting what should be fairly straight forward answers on the regulations.
Spoke to various suppliers in China who have CE/UKCA/ROHS certificates but I’m yet to get straight answers from them about if that means custom products they make can be CE marked or if each item needs testing for example. You just get vague answers like ‘we have lots of UK customers’ - Yes, but are your products compliant to sell on UK market?!
I’ll have a longer read of those sites and give them a call to ask what option is going to be best to get all the info to ensure products are safe and legally compliant. As I’m only looking at limited range of items I hope i will just need to understand a limited amount of regulations as e.g. the components such as power adapter is CE marked already.
Spoke to various suppliers in China who have CE/UKCA/ROHS certificates but I’m yet to get straight answers from them about if that means custom products they make can be CE marked or if each item needs testing for example. You just get vague answers like ‘we have lots of UK customers’ - Yes, but are your products compliant to sell on UK market?!
I’ll have a longer read of those sites and give them a call to ask what option is going to be best to get all the info to ensure products are safe and legally compliant. As I’m only looking at limited range of items I hope i will just need to understand a limited amount of regulations as e.g. the components such as power adapter is CE marked already.
Thanks for the feedback. If you were happy to share the name of your agent then that may be a useful contact to have in case it’s required. Definitely better to have someone on the ground.
The product I am looking for is pretty straight forward I would say as only a few components (plug, cable, transformer, remote control, cable, LED strip) and I have a sample I have taken to pieces which looks good to me with a few tweaks but may be handy to speak to
someone in the future.
The product I am looking for is pretty straight forward I would say as only a few components (plug, cable, transformer, remote control, cable, LED strip) and I have a sample I have taken to pieces which looks good to me with a few tweaks but may be handy to speak to
someone in the future.
Thanks for the info. Plenty to read up on and decide if it’s worthwhile doing.
Plenty of companies I speak to in China say things like ‘ we meet all regulations’ or ‘we have lots of British customers’ and I think yes, but do you meet the regulations!
I had read that CE marking seems to be staying as a suitable standard and not essential to have UKCA marking.
Not sure if an alternative may be to get the case of the light made overseas and add the electrics in UK perhaps as it’s very straight forward but may well face many of the same issues?
Plenty of companies I speak to in China say things like ‘ we meet all regulations’ or ‘we have lots of British customers’ and I think yes, but do you meet the regulations!
I had read that CE marking seems to be staying as a suitable standard and not essential to have UKCA marking.
Not sure if an alternative may be to get the case of the light made overseas and add the electrics in UK perhaps as it’s very straight forward but may well face many of the same issues?
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