graphic showing authentic CE mark versus fake CE mark

Warning over ‘swarm’ of non-compliant central heating pumps

The government must clamp down on the ‘swarm’ of non-compliant central heating pumps being imported into the UK, according to pump leaders.

The appeal is driven by increasing concerns that Far East exporters have penetrated the traditional merchant distribution channels to target the UK, with more than 100,000 non-compliant pumps being sold in the UK every year.

Steve Schofield, chief executive of the British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA), says: “We estimate that circa 10 per cent of the 1 million central heating pumps, technically known as circulators, being brought into the UK are non-compliant.

“It is a swarm, it is blatant and it is now over-the-counter. Once fitted, they are costing consumers hundreds of pounds every year on their heating bills.”

Lee Tebbatt, managing director at Wilo UK, says the key problem is in the stand-alone pump replacement market. “The stand-alone market, where a non-condensing boiler is being used with a hot water cylinder and header tank, is the target for non-compliant pumps.”

Non-compliant pumps that Wilo experts have seen are being manufactured to look like genuine OEM pumps, sometimes even equipped with fake CE markings that stand for China Export.

Steve says the government needs to clamp down. “We have been very lax in the UK in terms of policing the market and eradicating non-compliant pumps.

“It is the legal responsibility of the importer to ensure that only compliant pumps are brought into the UK. However, legal responsibility does not stop there. It is the distributor’s responsibility to only sell CE-marked pumps and it is the installer’s responsibility to ensure that what they are fitting is compliant.

“We need the government to step in, empower the market surveillance authorities and clamp down to protect consumers and its own climate change targets.”

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