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European Recreational Craft Directive - RCD 94/25/EC and amended by 2003/44/EC Scroll down the page for details or click on the links to jump directly to a section:
The following craft are within the scope of the European Recreational Craft Directive (RCD):
Since 1st January 2006, the noise and exhaust emissions of propulsion engines of recreational craft in Europe have been part of the RCD scope. In addition to craft and their engines, the following products (if pre-fabricated), fitted on european recreational craft, are also within the scope:
European based vessels or components within the scope of the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) must have a CE marking and conform to the Directives. Some of the above components do not need CE marks if fabricated with the boat. Contact CEproof for details. There are certain types of vessel excluded from the European RCD, including:
New or second-hand vessels that were built / put into service / put on the market within the EEA before 16th June 1998 are exempt. Note that some second-hand vessels will have to comply if imported to the EEA after these dates. Is your boat excluded from the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD)? How do you prove it? See the page on Directive Exemption Certificates (DEC). The person or company who first puts the completed product on the European market or into service is responsible for making the vessel compliant. This could be a anyone from the builder to owner. For second hand-imports, it must be the importer.
* Significant wave height means the average height of the highest 1/3rd of the waves over a given period. Waves of double that height may occasionally be experienced. **
The RSG, the Notified Bodies' forum for the European Recreational Craft
Directive, has recommended a wave of 7m be used for assessment purposes. Click here to see a graph of when you might expect to find conditions falling into these categories in the English Channel. When
placed on the market or put into service, craft must be accompanied by
a Declaration of Conformity. This certifies that the vessel meets
the Essential Safety Requirements (ESR) contained in the Directive. CEproof specializes in writing these documents for its clients and has written more TCFs than any other organisation in the world. If you want to do it yourself, however, you could use the software tool that we use to do it: CE-Pro Not all the ESRs are in fact safety related. There are thirty Essential Safety Requirements set out in the Directive. Not all ESR may be applicable in some small simple boats. The ESR are intentionally non-prescriptive to allow maximum freedom of design. For example, ESR 3.1 requires the boat to "be strong enough in all respects". To provide the missing detail, the ESR are supported by harmonised standards but it is perfectly legal to apply other standards if you can show equivalence. It can be difficult to prove equivalence without expert help. This is governed by conformity assessment modules.
A Notified Body (certifier) has no involvement in any Category D vessel but must be involved, to a varying extent, on every other boat. Post Construction Assessment (PCA) - Imported Boats Since 1st January 2006 the RCD has included a specific conformity assessment process for craft being CE marked after build. The process requires each individual boat to be certified by a Notified Body, regardless of category and size. This is because a private importer may not be technically minded and in no position to declare the compliance of a boat without verification. PCA still requires the boat to carry documentation, just like any other craft and the importer must sign the Declaration of Conformity, but even a 3m long, category D, imported boat needs full certification from a Notified Body. The boat will be issued with new identification numbers that point towards the certifier so that authorities wanting to check compliance know where to find the documentation. BE AWARE, however, that the importer carries liability for the initial compliance of the boat for many years - even after selling it. Thus the importer could be held liable for an accident on a boat that was later found to be non-compliant, even if he/she was not the owner the boat at the time. The certificate is some mitigation in this scenario but be aware that if a certifier is found to have issued a certificate in error, it does not absolve the importer from having imported the dangerous boat in the first place. This sounds frightening but the liability is easily minimised by conducting the RCD inspection and generating the paperwork diligently. There are some individuals offering CE marking without an inspection of the boat. They will issue the documents simply on the basis of the boat being a "known" model. But what if something has broken or been modified between build and import? What if the boat was supplied by the builder with a "mistake"? Once the boat is imported, the error would now be the fault of the importer, not the builder. To pay for CE paperwork and not have the protection of a visit is not only a "false economy" it could be deemed reckless in a court of law. CEproof staff always inspect the boats whose CE marking we help oversee and what is more, we select the certifiers carefully. CEproof works with a number of certifiers. We have, indeed, obtained more certificates from more Notified Bodies for more boats than any other organisation. We only work, however, with those we feel add value to the process - ie they do their job diligently and help to minimise the liability for us all... at a fair price. Do it properly with CEproof and you can enjoy your boat in full confidence that your boat & paperwork will stand up to any scrutiny.
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Telephone: UK - 0871 2884 987; Elsewhere +44 20 8133 0205 Fax +44 (0)700 341 8581 | enquiries@ceproof.com |
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