Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025: What Should Businesses Expect?

The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 (the “Act”), which received Royal Assent on 21 July 2025, grants the Secretary of State power to amend the UK’s current product safety regulations following Brexit. 

The Act aims to establish a new framework for regulating the use of products in the UK. While the Act itself is not sector-specific, future legislation is likely to impose obligations on those involved in the manufacture, advertising and sale of construction products, machinery and equipment. 

Scope of the Act

The UK’s current product safety regime consists of retained EU law[1] enacted prior to Brexit. The Act is an “enabling” law, which provides a framework for the Government to enact subsequent secondary legislation in relation to product safety. 

Regulations enacted pursuant to the Act will seek to:[2]

• reduce or mitigate risks (namely to health and safety or the endangerment of property) presented by products;
• ensure that products operate efficiently or effectively; and
• ensure that products designed for weighing or measuring operate accurately. 

Regulations enacted pursuant to the Act will impose obligations on the production, components (whether tangible or intangible), composition, installation, use, marking and marketing of products through an online marketplace[3]. This marks a significant development in the UK product safety regime, as the Act impacts both the physical and digital elements of the relevant products. 

Where products fall short of the relevant product safety requirements, the Act outlines several enforcement measures. These include the ability for relevant authorities inspecting premises, seizing evidence of non-compliance and requiring parties to dispose of the offending product.[4]

Application of the Act

Within the construction sector, the Act seeks to ensure that industrial equipment and products produced in the UK are used safely and advertised accurately, whilst also enabling the removal of unsafe products from the market. 

The UK Government has previously indicated its intention to align its online marketplace regulation with the existing EU General Product Safety Regulation (the “GPSR”). Obligations under the GPSR include:

• co-operation with market surveillance authorities;
• compliance with requests to remove unsafe products from advertisements; and 
• online marketplaces (i.e. retailer websites) must establish a single product safety contact point. 

Regulations enacted under the Act are expected to mirror the obligations of the GPSR. 

The Act’s accompanying Code of Conduct[5] outlines the Government’s intended use of the powers it confers. The Code of Conduct commits to ensuring that future regulations are proportionate, evidence-based and transparent. 

The Code of Conduct emphasises that, while all consumer products must be safe, further specific requirements will be imposed on high-risk sectors. Therefore, expect future regulations to set out detailed duties, restrictions and prohibitions on the testing, labelling, production and sale of industrial equipment. 

Overlap with the Construction Products Reform Green Paper

The Government’s Construction Products Reform Green Paper, published in February 2025 in response to the Grenfell tragedy, outlines similar objectives to those of the Act[6]. Enhancing safety, ensuring accountability and fostering transparency in the construction products sector remains a top priority for the Government. 

The Paper proposes significant, urgent reforms in the sector in response to reports of false marketing and inconsistent product safety reporting. These proposals included more extensive risk assessments and availability of test results to the market. 

Although the Paper does not reference the Act directly, the overlap in the objectives and proposed obligations suggests that reforms within the construction sector may be enacted via the Act. 

What to Expect

For now, businesses should continue to ensure that products meet current product safety requirements through consistent testing, risk assessments and the production of up-to-date technical product information. Continued compliance with existing regulations will ensure a smooth transition when updated obligations are provided through future legislation. 

To get ahead of the curve, businesses may wish to review the Construction Products Reform Green Paper and GPSR as future UK legislation is likely to contain similar obligations. 

Affected businesses should also engage with online platforms where appropriate to better understand how they plan to comply with any new obligations. 

We will continue to provide updates in this area as further details become available. 

If you have any queries relating to the decision, contact Lena Barnes or John O’Mahony.