Fire Safety Event 2026: Third-party certification for safer construction products

A recent fire safety trade show offered us the chance to highlight the importance of third-party certification when it comes to building confidence and addressing safety in construction products.

The Fire Safety Event 2026 brought together industry leaders, regulators, and manufacturers over three days at Birmingham’s NEC. As well as hosting a stand where we welcomed a steady flow of visitors, we held educational CPD sessions twice a day.

Peter Barker, Technical Policy Manager at Warringtonfire, part of Element, delivered insights across multiple presentation slots. His talks focused on the role of third-party certification across construction products and the future of fire safety, testing, and compliance.

Peter said: “Third-party certification provides assurance beyond test evidence alone. It gives confidence that products are independently verified, consistently manufactured, and subject to ongoing oversight. That provides extra assurance throughout the supply chain and confidence that products will perform as expected.”

During his sessions, Peter explained that while test evidence remains a baseline requirement, it only reflects performance at a single point in time. 

He added: “The advantage of third-party certification is that it adds more structure to the conformity assessment process through independent sampling, accredited testing, factory production control audits, and ongoing surveillance. This approach helps ensure that products placed on the market are consistent, traceable, and aligned with their tested performance.”

Peter also discussed the direction of travel in UK regulation, with proposed reforms pointing towards stronger oversight, improved transparency, and more rigorous expectations for product assurance. 

Commenting on Element’s presence at the show, Matthias Kaulisch-Schneeweiss, Director of Sales and Marketing – Built Environment EMEAA, said:

“It is valuable to be here speaking directly with both existing customers and new contacts, discussing the technical and regulatory challenges they are navigating. 

“The Fire Safety Event provides an environment for sharing knowledge and addressing real-world issues across the industry. It also allows us to demonstrate how we support our customers across the full product lifecycle, from development through to testing, certification, and market access.

“At Element, we remain committed to supporting the industry though technical expertise and collaboration as regulatory expectations and product assurance requirements continue to evolve."