Self CE Certification

[seanfoster]

I've just been trawling through the web looking at CE certification regarding importing a yacht from the US.

I've seen a few people using CE Proof and being quoted £3-6000 for an average 30-40 ft yacht.

Does anyone know how you could do this, or a percentage of this, yourself?

Anyone done it, or trying to do it?

 

[Jock89]

Hi seanf, Sorry I can't give you a direct answer to that but I looked into all this about 3-4 years ago when I was looking for my boat.
I was on the point of buying an airline ticket to the US & buying a nice Tayana 37 at one time, after speaking with CE Proof Ltd, but decided against it at the last minute as whatever I bought, in my price-range, was going to need quite a lot spending on her anyway, so I played safe & bought in UK.
Would you not be able to speak to the likes of CE proof, quoting the model you're looking at, ask if they've handled that type before & make a note of, or better still ask them to email you a list of the things that usually have to be changed, & see what jobs you could handle yourself.?
Jock

 

[jwilson]

As far as the (stupid) legislation is concerned, it does not matter if the boat is certified in the right category - ie you can certify an ocean cruiser as an inland pond-tub if you want. All that matters is that it HAS a RCD cert. The requirements get simpler the lower you go on the ABCD scale.

I would be interested in hearing from someone who has actually done this, and what was involved.

 

[seanfoster]

Jock,

I think that is a good Idea, what I have found out is that a boat is more expensive to certify if original plans are not available (from the designers and builders) because CEProof or whoever does it would have to produce a set of plans from the boat (ie back engineer it) to submit. If I found a range of models that had already been done then in theory the cost should be less. Then again, is that likely?

 

[Jock89]

seanf...you're absolutely right, you do need all the design spec's etc. If you can't get hold of them yourself....then of course that's why they charge so much to do it for you.

When I was looking into this-now I realize it was actually about 5 yrs ago-I went to see a very well built Taiwan boat at Maryport that had been bought in Canada, cruised & lived on for 2 yrs there, & then done a circumnavigation back to Maryport by the English owner.
I don't remember all the details of our conversation but after being RCD'd his blue-water Category-A yacht was now only Category-B. The fact that he'd sailed the boat round the world to get here didn't mean a thing.! I think he/they may have had some difficulty getting hold of original design spec's. If I remember correctly they charged him something just under £4.K for the privelege, so he had to add that on to his asking price of course.
However, that's where it all could make a big difference to your pocket... you're trying to sell your Offshore Cat-A boat that now only carries a Coastal Cat-B status, which could of course cost you a few thousand £s off your sale-price.

Whether one could successfully explain all that to a prospective buyer later on would depend strictly upon how much research your prospective buyer had done, or knew about the type of boat & its capabilities, that he was looking at.

I still had this guys contact details until about 1 yr ago, but deleted it, however, YM did a story on him & going through them is how I got in touch with him.
His name is Ian Laval, in Maryport.
Jock

 

[Jock89]

seanf...Disregard previous post as I've just tracked him down again. Do a Google search for Lydia B & you'll get some of the story from his old website. He has a section on the CE Category, etc. I'm glad to see the site is still there actually, she was a brilliant little boat, a Baba 30...too small for me as I discovered when I went on board, but well worth the drive down from Glasgow at the time.!
All part of the research, hey.?
Jock

 

[snowleopard]

I know a couple of people who have imported boats from the US. They say that it is unrealistic to try to get a proper CE mark as it is prohibitively expensive.

HOWEVER- there is no requirement to have a category A certificate for an ocean-going boat. The UK department of gold-plating EU regulations requires you to get a certificate but it doesn't matter what category you have or what you do with the boat afterwards. That means you can get a category D certificate (inland waters) then head off round the world. Cat D is the only one that can be got retrospectively at reasonable cost.

If you were registered in e.g. France you would be fined for going beyond the limits for the category but not for British registry (yet).

There is a possible loophole. Self-built boats are exempt provided they aren't sold within 5 years of completion. If you imported the boat as an 'unfinished project' and completed it yourself you might be able to claim exemption. I don't know if that has been tried.