Rules For Selling Electrical Items And Furniture

[BarbaraFarge]

Hi,

My friend and I are thinking of making some small furniture items to sell at market stalls and craft fairs, maybe Etsy etc. We were also considering the possibility of making some lighting items e.g. table lamps, pendant lamps, floor lamps but we are unsure of the laws regarding selling electrical items and having them tested to show they are safe.
It would only be a small quantity of items made at a time, not a huge operation, we both already work in a workshop that makes furniture to hire out so we're both fairly skilled but slightly clueless about the legal requirements!
I've noticed some places sell lighting items without a plug, but I'd rather not do that if we don't have to. If we are making just the base and shade and buying components to fit to them that are already tested, is that ok? Or does the lamp as a whole have to be tested? Or for example, if we sold just shades on their own do they need to be tested in some way to prove they won't set on fire?

thank you!

[Buenchico]

The electrical items must carry 'CE' labels, to confirm that they meet the relevant European standards. See Section 9 of the legislation
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/3260/made

Self-adhesive 'CE' labels can be purchased on eBay.

As long as the construction is generally sound, a simply Portable Appliance Test should suffice to check that your items are safe. Find a charity shop that sells electrical items and ask them who does their PAT tests. If it's (say) a local electrician who does them on a voluntary basis he might well do your tests for you in return for a small donation to the charity. (Otherwise google 'PAT test', together with the name of your area, to find someone who can do the job for you).

The law relating to plugs on electrical devices can be found here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/1768/made
While mass-produced items are now fitted with moulded plugs, I can foresee no problems if you simply used the replacement screw-fit ones that are sold in all hardware stores, as long as the plug
(a) conforms to the current legal standards (as any plug purchased from, say, B&Q automatically will anyway) ; and
(b) is correctly fused for the load of the appliance (which, for the items you've referred to, means 3A, not 13A).

With regard to shades, there's no requirement for any kind of formal testing, as it's the manufacturer (i.e. you) who declares them to be safe. They should carry the CE mark and a label to indicate the maximum wattage of a bulb that they can safely be used with. (With modern bulbs producing far less heat than old-fashioned tungsten bulbs, that might seem to be less important than it was. However you should assume that the purchaser of the shade might still be using hot tungsten bulbs).

[Hymie]

To legally sell lighting items (within the EU) they would need to be CE marked – effectively your declaration that the items meet the applicable EU Directives (Low Voltage, EMC, RoHS etc).

In reality this would require test (to relevant standards) for each of the product types/models, something which would be prohibitively expensive taking into consideration the likely low production volumes.

That said, within the UK, Trading Standards are responsible for enforcing such legal requirements – something that they are woefully underfunded to police.

However, failing to comply could find yourself facing unlimited fines and even a stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

[Peter Pedant]

and remember you'd get precedence to prison over and above child molesters and the like

You have to follow the usual regulations and that is why some charity shops refuse electirical goods

[EDDIE51]

PAT tests were £25 a time when my next door neighbour used to do them. He was a qualified electrician , it needs a special testing unit to do them.
He was the cheapest in the area but too ill to work now and in a care home.

[Buenchico]

£25?

The auction house I go to gets charged £2 per item. Depending on the number of items to be tested, most qualified testers charge between £1 and £3. (Obviously, if you're expecting someone to drive some distance to come to you you'll pay more but as long as you can go to the tester - or you've got enough items to male it worth his while calling on you - you should never need to pay more than a fiver at the very most),

[EDDIE51]

The £25 was for large items like commercial freezers , not things like a table lamp.