HGVs and trailers now subject to EU type approval

As part of the system of EU type approval, motor vehicles and trailers must meet prescribed safety and environmental standards before being sold or first used on Irish roads.

This type approval system already applies to cars, vans and buses and from October 29th 2012 onwards, the system of will extend to include the following vehicles:

New Heavy Goods Vehicles (Gross Vehicle Design Weight in excess of 3,500kg)
New Heavy Goods Trailers (Gross Vehicle Design Weight in excess of 3,500kg)
New light trailers (Gross Vehicle Design Weight not exceeding 3,500kg)

When a vehicle is manufactured to approval standards, it is issued with approval certification and it is important this certification is passed on by the manufacturer in order to allow new vehicles to be sold or registered. The Road Safety Authority has prepared the attached information leaflets which can also be downloaded from the RSA’s website at www.rsa.ie

The RSA website contains further information on the type approval process and also includes links to the relevant Irish legislation and EC framework directive 2007/46/EC. If you need further information you can email ecwvta@rsa.ie or phone 096-25040 or 096-25014.

The NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) is Ireland’s appointed Approval Authority and is responsible for issuing all approvals for vehicles in Ireland.

For more information on the routes to approval, please visit www.nsai.ie  If you need further information you can email amanda.oshea@nsai.ie or phone 01-8073832.