The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the UK regulator for construction products and most consumer goods. They act on behalf of and are funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which is responsible for construction products policy. OPSS lead on the delivery of construction products regulation. Their purpose is to ensure the claimed performance requirements of construction products are met, to enable safer, better buildings across the UK.

Approach – Enforcement Policy and actions

OPSS have increased the level of market surveillance across the construction products sector, taking a risk-based and proportionate approach to enforcement action in line with our Enforcement Policy. They are engaging with stakeholders to inform our understanding and to educate and inform industry.

Read our Enforcement Policy – this links to our enforcement actions.

OPSS support local authorities in enforcing the current regulations, drawing on our expertise in areas such as intelligence gathering, risk assessment and investigation. They work closely with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which is part of the Health and Safety Executive. BSR’s responsibilities include overseeing the safe design, construction and occupation of high-rise residential buildings.

Construction Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Product Recalls

Find details of construction product alerts, reports and recalls.

OPSS focus on areas with higher risk or non-compliance. As part of their activities, they carry out product testing, site inspections, and technical documentation reviews.

As well as their proactive interventions, OPSS consider many allegations of non-compliance, from a range of sources including end-users, businesses, other government departments and local authorities. OPSS responded to over 100 such cases in 2023.

You can watch a number of webinars and read the full guidance here.