BBA Agrément Certificate

The British Board of Agrément (BBA) is a UK body that assesses and certifies construction products. It was set up by the government in 1966, initially to provide product and installer approval, and is based near Watford, where it has offices and test facilities. It describes itself as having served the construction supply chain for more than 50 years.

Its best-known output is the BBA Agrément Certificate, which assesses a product's fitness for its intended purpose and states whether it complies with, or helps achieve compliance with, UK building regulations.

Why Agrément exists

Traditional products, such as clay tiles or natural slate, are covered by long-established British and European Standards. Newer or innovative products, such as breathable membranes, liquid-applied roof coatings, insulation systems, synthetic slates and some single-ply membranes, may not be fully covered by a product standard or a code of practice. An Agrément Certificate fills that gap by evaluating the product as used in a building, often including durability, installation and how it interacts with the rest of the construction.

Roofing relevance

Roofing is one of the two largest sectors covered by BBA certificates, alongside insulation, among roughly 200 product sectors. Certificates are commonly held for:

• roof underlays and breathable membranes
• single-ply and reinforced bitumen membranes
• liquid-applied waterproofing
• green roof systems
• dry-fix ridge, hip and verge systems
• insulation used in roofs

Specifiers, warranty providers and building control bodies often ask for a BBA certificate when a product is not covered by a standard such as BS 5534.

What a certificate contains

A typical certificate describes the product, its intended uses, how it supports compliance with the relevant regulations (in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), design and installation considerations, durability estimates and the basis of assessment. The BBA monitors production to check that it continues to match the certified product.

Accreditation status

The BBA's website stated in 2026 that its UKAS accreditations were suspended and that it was working with UKAS to resolve the matter. Users relying on certificates for regulatory or warranty purposes may wish to check current status.

Related systems

Similar national approval or technical assessment schemes exist elsewhere, such as Avis Techniques in France and General Building Authority Approvals in Germany. In the EU, European Technical Assessments under the CPR serve a harmonised role.