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WHAT IS TYPE APPROVAL?
Type Approval is a way of making sure goods vehicles are safe to use on the road without having to inspect and test every single one. Under the Type Approval system a prototype is tested. If it passes the tests and the production arrangements also pass inspection,then vehicles or components of the same type are approved for production and sale without further testing.
WHO NEEDS IT?
If goods vehicles are to be made or imported for sale in the UK, Type Approval must be obtained. Without it, vehicles cannot be licensed for use on the roads.
HOW DO YOU GET IT?
Type approval is given in two parts. First, the systems and components used in the vehicle must be approved. Then, the whole vehicle must be approved. As part of both systems, your production and quality assurance procedures will probably need to pass a thorough inspection, as well. The goods vehicle scheme covers all goods vehicles, from lightweight vans up to 44 tonne trucks. There are also two types of system and component approval: national and international.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEEN WHOLE VEHICLE, SYSTEM AND COMPONENT APPPROVAL?
Whole Vehicle approval applies only to vehicles which are to be sold in this country. It looks at the specification of the complete vehicle and is made up of a number of performance-related building blocks. Each building block consists of an approval for one of the safety and environmental-related systems and components that are built into the vehicle. The complete specification for all the building blocks then becomes a fixed standard, frozen in time. For vans and heavy goods vehicles, there are four or five standards to be met depending on engine type: exhaust emissions, noise, brakes and (for petrol engines only) radio interference suppression. For heavy goods vehicles, the plated weight must also be determined.
SYSTEMS AND COMPONENT APPROVALS
These fall into two groups. GB Approval, is based on an assessment by our engineers of the detailed technical evidence that you provide. This method is cheaper but you do run the risk that if your technical evidence does not satisfy our engineers, you must submit to the full test for international standards. You would then incur both sets of fees. It is, however, a very useful procedure for the small volume specialist builder, buying components from major manufacturers. In this case, you must have the written agreement from the manufacturers to use their existing approvals. GB Approval is not accepted outside this country, so if you hope to export, you must apply for the second form of approval, International Approval which involves a full test to international regulations. International Type Approvals are to standards set out in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Regulations or in EU Directives. They apply to vehicle systems and components only. International approvals are issued in this country by the Department of Transport and by similar approval authorities throughout Europe. Once a vehicle has all the necessary system and component approvals, whether GB or International, an application for Whole Vehicle Approval giving the complete list of approval numbers can be made. A representative production vehicle will then be inspected to see that it is built to the specifications detailed. If a range of models is marketed a number of variants will be inspected.
TYPE APPROVAL CERTIFICATE (TAC)
This is available only to manufacturers within the EU. One TAC can cover the complete range of vehicles, including all the variants. Once this certificate has been issued, a manufacturer can issue a certificate of conformity for every vehicle, which is produced. But before a TAC is issued, the certified authority must be satisfied with the manufacturing Quality Assurance systems in place. This is necessary to make sure that every vehicle conforms to the established specifications.
FACTORY INSPECTION AND CONFORMITY OF PRODUCTION (COP)
Before the manufacture can issue either system approvals, component approvals or whole vehicle approvals (TAC only), Quality Assurance procedures at the manufacturing facility must be approved by the certified authority.
This generic process applies to vehicle categories M1 and N.
Vehicle categories M2 and M3 (buses and coaches), fall outside of the Type Approval scheme and are subject to a Certificate of Initial Fitness. This is a process managed in UK by the Vehicle Inspectonate.
Vehicle category O (trailers), fall outside of the Vehicle Type Approval scheme and are subject to self-certification by the trailer manufactures.
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