National regulation: enforcement services
How the Office for Product Safety and Standards contributes to the national regulatory landscape.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) provides enforcement services for a range of goods-based and standards-based regulations. OPSS is the policy owner for some of these regulations but also provides services on behalf of government departments including BEIS, Defra and DfT.
We are working towards providing a regulatory environment in which businesses have the confidence to invest and grow and citizens and communities are properly protected. We do this by taking a risk-based and proportionate approach to our enforcement activities and by operating under the The Regulators’ Code.
What we enforce
OPSS is the national regulator for consumer product safety (other than in relation to vehicles, medicines and food), working with local authorities, other market surveillance authorities and border control authorities.
Find out more about how to comply with product safety law.
Guidance on complying with the following areas of legislation can be found via these links:
Access and benefit sharing of genetic resources (Nagoya Protocol)
Alternative fuels infrastructure regulations
Alternative fuel labelling regulations
Batteries and accumulators (placing on the market) regulations
Ecodesign of energy related products regulations
End of life vehicles regulations
Energy information regulations
Heat network metering and billing regulations
Noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors regulations
Guidance for businesses we regulate
These four documents define what you can expect from us, specify our approach to dealing with non-compliance, explain how you can complain or comment about our service, and clarify your statutory and non-statutory rights to challenge or appeal our regulatory actions or decisions.
OPSS enforcement: service standards
OPSS enforcement: enforcement policy
OPSS enforcement: challenges and appeals guidance
Non-qualifying regulatory provisions
The Regulatory Policy Committee has confirmed that none of the measures or activities of OPSS presented in the following summaries should be considered as qualifying regulatory provisions for the purposes of the Business Impact Target.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about compliance or wish to contact us regarding suspected non-compliance we recommend that you complete the online enquiry form, choose the relevant legislation and follow the on screen instructions.
Alternatively you can contact our helpdesk on 0121 345 1201.
Or in writing to:
Office for Product Safety and Standards
4th Floor Cannon House
18 The Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6BS
United Kingdom
Free email alert service
Subscribe to our free email alert service to keep up to date on the latest developments concerning the legislation that OPSS enforces.
Last updated 20 December 2021 + show all updates
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Summary of non-qualifying regulatory provisions under the Business Impact Target for 17 December 2020 to 16 December 2021 added.
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Enforcement services summary leaflet added.
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Four documents added on Regulatory Delivery's approach to business regulation: our service standards, enforcement policy, complaints policy, and challenges and appeals guidance.
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First published.