CE certification

[me2]

The thing is the law states that the max width is 7'6" that trailer will be 8' 3" . The hitch will be 2" and will come off a 50 mm ball as the 50mm ball has a flat on top and on some angles it will just lift off. The brakes are on the front axle only they should be on all 4 . The tyres have no e type app on them. All in all that lot means you have no insurance so if something goes wrong then its down to you and in the eyes of the law you will be using an unseured load with a 50 mm ball ( you can not get a 2" ball to match the face plate on towbars).
They had me for all of the above and the trailer had to stay where it was , the worse thing about it I have been working with trailers for over 25 years and knew it was wrong plus it was in Poole the place where we were on call to the police for these matters.

 

[me2]

"A ball hitch is an easy fix "
Sadly its not a easy fix as our hitchs are over run , the main thing is they are to wide

 

[geardownthreegreens]

Hey sorry to hear about all that. What was the fine. Its quite ridiculous in my eyes.You'd think that if it was good enough for the US, then it would be good enough for us.
Rather embarrassing for yourself i suspect I do take your point though bud, and thankyou.

 

[geardownthreegreens]

Oh ouch!! Some copper was on the ball that day. Really sorry to hear it like i said, but more painful when you knew the rules anyway well you wont be doing that again.
Oh, sorry, just to pick up on a point, it is all wheel braked according to my friend, which is better i guess.

 

[me2]

It would help but there is no way around the fact that its to wide , dont forget yank cars where/are bigger , heaver and wider than ours , some can pull 5000kg and pull non braked trailers at 1500 kgs ours can only do 750kgs non braked.

 

[alan006]

I helped a friend get his boat CE marked recently and several points came up. Firstly you will need the emissions data for your engine and also the decibels rating for your boat. If you give a CE specialist a call they can check a database to see if the information is already available, if you are unlucky and the information is not readily available for your boat then it can be very expensive to get it tested.
Best to make the call before you buy the boat, as others have said the other modifications ( as far as I know) are not too bad.
I hope this helps.

 

[SRDave]

CE Marking

The boat must be CE Marked it is a legal requirement. I had mine done by American Sports Boats. www.americansportsboats.com they are cheapest in UK and very helpful.

 

[gjgm]

Re trailer.. I did hear of some guy towing his sportsboat with his Range Rover on a US trailer. Had an accident,smashed the lot up, insurance said they werent covering him (for boat or car) as his rig was illegal.
Cant blame them I guess. Now imgaine you injure someone, too ....
Or imagine an accident on the water without a CE plate, and the boat is therefore illegal....

 

[Denis O]

When I bought my boat 2 years ago it was an import with a US trailer. I knew nothing about boats and the broker, who knew full well it was a US trailer was quite happy to let me buy it as is. He also knew my first trip with the boat was across Europe to Greece.

I bought some skis from another chandler and talked about the new boat being a US import and he suggested I check on the trailer. I checked with the broker who confirmed it was US.

I ended up getting another £1000 off the agreed price and bought a new trailer from De Graff for just a little more.

All's well that ends well although no thanks to the broker.

 

[Tranona]

All's well that ends well although no thanks to the broker.

Just a point of clarification - I doubt your supplier was a broker. If you bought it FROM him (and he imported it) he was a dealer and it is his responsibility to get the boat and the trailer a CE mark. If somebody else imported it then it would have been their responsibility to comply. It is not illegal to use a boat without a CE mark - only illegal to "put it into service" - that is import it and sell it. The trailer is somewhat different, it would probably be illegal to use it.

Water under the bridge now, but you could have reported the trader to Trading Standardswho are responsible for enforcing the CE marking regulations.

 

[EugeneR]

It is not illegal to use a boat without a CE mark - only illegal to "put it into service" - that is import it and sell it.

Are you 100% sure? My understanding of "put into service" includes starting to use it. Or are you suggesting once it's in use, continuing to use isn't an issue...

To OP... I've used CE Proof for CE certification before. For a known CE model it's a quick job with relatively few easy changes to make. Most important is to check with them that the engine / drive is OK - avoids need for emmissions and noise testing. I'd say well below £1k for your size boat, including parts.

 

[Tranona]

Are you 100% sure? My understanding of "put into service" includes starting to use it. Or are you suggesting once it's in use, continuing to use isn't an issue...

There is probably a grey area here. There is no mechanism for checking that a boat (once it is put into service) complies with CE, nor is there an offence for the user. In any case, almost as soon as an owner starts using the boat and making changes, adding bits etc it will probably fail to comply!

The offence occurs at the time the boat is sold to a private user (by a dealer/ manufacturer/ importer). Of course the importer may also be the first owner in the EU, so he has the responsiblility for getting the CE mark. There has been suggestions is the past that there is a 12 month grace period to complete, but I have not seen anything "official" that says this.

 

[goboatingnow]

And if you sold it to someone who didn't know it needed a CE certificate, and then there was a dispute at a later date, you have committed the offence for selling it uncertified - indeed I am not sure you are allowed to sell it uncertified even if the buyer knows the implications of that. What if there was an accident with someone on board, would you be insured knowing it should have been CE Marked when you bought it?

This isn't correct, the liability remains with the original importer, i.e. the person who "put it into service".

It is not illegal to use a boat without a CE mark - only illegal to "put it into service" - that is import it and sell it. The trailer is somewhat different, it would probably be illegal to use it.

That is not quite the position for post 1996 vessels, the law says they must be certified and carry the mark. "put into service " is the same as use. its just the liability remains with the importer not you.

The problem for "you" is that you have given your insurance a way out.

as to trailers, its difficult to make US trailers road legal, The brakes are very different, you must have mechanical over run brakes for road legal use, plus a metric hitch. There are a number of other issues, including getting the trailer CE certified. The US trailer is alright for a mile run down the road to the slip. anything else get a proper trailer, otherwise its an insurance get out.


The other thing is that unless there is a emissions and sound bypass data for this engine conforming to CE requirements, you'll have to get that done, that aint cheap.

In any case, almost as soon as an owner starts using the boat and making changes, adding bits etc it will probably fail to comply!

This is an ongoing grey area, the commission has stated that major craft modifications require re-certification. it has yet to be ascertained what "major craft modifications" are. ( see Megawatt issue)

walk away quickly

 

[Denis O]

Just a point of clarification - I doubt your supplier was a broker. If you bought it FROM him (and he imported it) he was a dealer and it is his responsibility to get the boat and the trailer a CE mark. If somebody else imported it then it would have been their responsibility to comply. It is not illegal to use a boat without a CE mark - only illegal to "put it into service" - that is import it and sell it. The trailer is somewhat different, it would probably be illegal to use it.

Water under the bridge now, but you could have reported the trader to Trading Standardswho are responsible for enforcing the CE marking regulations.

Why, from what I have written, do you doubt my supplier was a broker. I can assure you he was a broker, selling the boat on behalf of the owner who happened to live at the other end of the country to me.

The owner had imported the boat from the US in 2002 and never used it up until I bought it in 2009...via the broker. The paperwork included VAT paid details and the boat came with a CE mark a plate on the helm.

It did however have a US trailer, which the broker knew about, and was quite happy to allow me, a total novice, to drive 1000 miles across Europe with every chance that the 2 inch hitch could jump off the 50mm ball and the whole load plough into anything on a motorway at 70mph. Irresponsible at best.

My post was about the trailer issue and not CE marking which I did not mention at all in my first post.

 

[Jim@sea]

May I just say that when I started towing in the early 60's Tow Balls were 2". Inches were the British Standard. Trailers and Caravan sockets were 2".
Since then we have the European 50MM Tow Ball. But does that make our 2 " Tow Ball ie., Original Equipment" obsolete.

 

[Tranona]

Why, from what I have written, do you doubt my supplier was a broker. I can assure you he was a broker, selling the boat on behalf of the owner who happened to live at the other end of the country to me.

My apologies. You are right, I should not have made that assumption.

 

[rafiki_]

This isn't correct, the liability remains with the original importer, i.e. the person who "put it into service".




as to trailers, its difficult to make US trailers road legal, The brakes are very different, you must have mechanical over run brakes for road legal use, plus a metric hitch. There are a number of other issues, including getting the trailer CE certified. The US trailer is alright for a mile run down the road to the slip. anything else get a proper trailer, otherwise its an insurance get out.





Up to now, small trailers (up to 3500kg) needed only to conform to Construction and Use regs, and did not need any formal approval. From Sept this year, all trailers come under the European Type Approval regs. Therefore it has been possible to adapt the US trailer lights, and tow hitch, and nobody has been any the wiser. From Sept, the retailer of the trailer has to ensure conformance to UK (Eu) regs, and to maintain a register.