The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001

Made: 9th January 2001

Laid before Parliament: 10th January 2001

Coming into force: 1st February 2001

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PART I — GENERAL

Citation and commencement

1

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Revocation

2

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Interpretation

3

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PART II — APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS FOR RELEVANT VEHICLES

Application of Regulations

4

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Approval requirements for relevant vehicles

5

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PART III — MISCELLANEOUS

Application for Minister’s approval certificate

6

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Assignment of vehicle identification numbers

7

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Criteria for determining design weights

8

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Appeals

9

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Refusal of application or appeal without an examination or a complete examination

10

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Form of certificate

11

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Replacement certificates

12

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Notices

13

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Obligatory certificates

14

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Licences not to be issued for vehicles unless appropriate certificates are in force

15

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SCHEDULE 1 — INSTRUMENTS REVOKED

Instrument	Number
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 1996	S.I.1996/3013
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 1997	S.I.1997/1366
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1997	S.I.1997/2934
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 1998	S.I.1998/1008
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 1999	S.I.1999/2082
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1999	S.I.1999/3226
The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 2000	S.I.2000/1972

SCHEDULE 2 — SCHEDULE 2 VEHICLES

Meaning of “Schedule 2 vehicle”

1

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Personally imported vehicles

2

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Amateur built vehicles

3

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Vehicles manufactured in very low volume

4

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Vehicles manufactured using parts of a registered vehicle

5

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Disabled person’s vehicle

6

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Rebuilt vehicles

7

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SCHEDULE 3 — APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS FOR RELEVANT VEHICLES

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1

All doors, provided on the vehicle for the entry and exit of occupants, shall be designed as to allow easy and safe use. Doors shall have both intermediate and fully latched positions and their latches shall be designed to prevent the doors from opening accidentally. However, latching in an intermediate position is not required if a safety-bolt with an audible warning device is provided as specified in paragraph 2(b) below.

2

Where hinges are used, the hinges shall be fitted at the front edge of the door. However, they may be fitted at the top or rear edge if either—

• (a) a device is fitted which automatically closes the door at least to the intermediate latched position if it is unlatched when the vehicle is moving in the forward direction; or

• (b) a safety-bolt is fitted to prevent such unlatching and an audible warning device is provided which activates an audible warning if the vehicle is driven without the bolt in place.

3

On hinged doors, the latch and striker assembly shall be capable of withstanding any load which is likely to be applied in the course of normal driving (i.e. excluding crash impacts) in both the intermediate and fully latched positions. However if a safety-bolt with an audible warning device is provided as specified in paragraph 2(b) above, the requirement need be met only with the bolt in place.

1

No part of the steering control surface directed towards the driver which can be contacted by a sphere of 165mm in diameter shall present any roughness or sharp edges with a radius of curvature of less than 2.5mm.

2

The steering control shall be designed, constructed and fitted so as not to embody components or accessories, including the horn control and other assemblies, capable of catching in the driver’s clothing or jewellery in normal driving movements.

3

The steering control and column assembly as fitted to the vehicle or the steering control itself shall offer a degree of protection to the driver in the event of a frontal impact by absorbing energy. This requirement shall be treated as met if either—

• (a) the vehicle complies with the requirements of paragraph 5.2 of Annex 1 of Directive 74/297/EEC; or

• (b) the steering control complies with the requirements of paragraphs 5.2, 5.4.3, 5.4.4 and 5.4.5 of Directive 74/297/EEC as last amended by Directive 91/662/EEC.

4

The vehicle shall comply with the requirements of paragraph 5.1 of Annex 1 of Directive 74/297/EEC.

1

The vehicle shall not emit any avoidable smoke or avoidable visible vapour.

2

When the engine by which it is propelled is running without load at a normal idling speed, the carbon monoxide content of the exhaust emissions from the engine shall not exceed—

• (a) if the vehicle has an effective date before 1st August 1986, 4.5%; or

• (b) if the vehicle has an effective date on or after 1st August 1986 and not being a vehicle to which sub-paragraph (c) or (d) below applies, 3.5%; or

• (c) if the vehicle is of a description mentioned in the Annex to the emissions publication and is either—

• (i) a passenger car having an effective date on or after 1st August 1992; or

• (ii) any other vehicle having four or more wheels and an effective date on or after 1st August 1994, the relevant percentage; or

• (d) if the vehicle is not of a description mentioned in the Annex to the emissions publication and is either—

• (i) a passenger car having an effective date on or after 1st August 1995; or

• (ii) any other vehicle having four or more wheels and an effective date on or after 1st August 1997, 0.5%;

of the total exhaust emissions from the engine by volume.

3

If the engine by which the vehicle is propelled is run without a load at a rotational speed of 2,000 revolutions per minute, the hydrocarbon content of the exhaust emission from the engine shall not exceed 0.12% if the vehicle either—

• (a) has not more than three wheels; or

• (b) is a vehicle to which paragraph 2(a) or (b) applies;

4

If the vehicle is one to which paragraph 2(c) or (d) applies and the engine by which it is propelled is run without a load at a fast idling speed—

• (a) the carbon monoxide content of the exhaust emissions from the engine shall not exceed 0.3% of the total exhaust emissions from the engine by volume;

• (b) the hydrocarbon content of the exhaust emissions from the engine shall not exceed 0.02% of the total exhaust emissions from the engine by volume; and

• (c) the lambda value shall be between the relevant limits.

1

The vehicle shall be fitted with at least one offside exterior mirror which meets—

• (a) if the vehicle is right hand drive or has a central driving position, the adjustment, rear view, and vibration requirements; or

• (b) if the vehicle is left hand drive, the rear view, and vibration requirements.

2

It shall also be fitted with at least one interior mirror which meets the adjustment, rear view and vibration requirements unless no interior mirror could provide any view to the rear.

3

If no interior mirror is fitted or if no interior mirror meets the rear view requirements, a nearside exterior mirror shall be fitted which meets—

• (a) if the vehicle is right hand drive or has a central driving position, the rear view and vibration requirements; or

• (b) if the vehicle is left hand drive, the adjustment, rear view, and vibration requirements.

4

Each rear view mirror fitted to the vehicle shall either—

• (a) comply with the requirements (including marking requirements) of Annex II to Directive 71/127/EEC as last amended by Directive 88/321/EEC or of Part I of ECE Regulation 46.01 for a Class I mirror in the case of an interior mirror and a Class III or a Class II mirror in the case of an exterior mirror; or

• (b) comply with the dimension requirements and the following requirements—

• (i) the edge of the reflective surface shall be enclosed within a protective housing;

• (ii) all parts of the external surface of the mirror which are, in the case of an interior mirror, contactable by a sphere of 165 mm diameter, and in the case of an exterior mirror, by a sphere of 100 mm diameter, shall have a radius of curvature of not less than 2.5 mm, with the exception of fixing holes or recesses less than 12 mm wide if these are blunted;

• (iii) exterior mirrors shall be capable of rotating inwards towards the vehicle when a force of 10 kg is applied horizontally at the extreme outer edge in a longitudinal plane from both the front and the rear. The axis of rotation shall lie within 50 mm of the surface at which the mirror is attached to the vehicle bodywork.

1

The vehicle shall be fitted with some form of anti-theft device, that is to say, a mechanical, electrical or electronic immobiliser or a combination of these (in addition to any key operated switch normally used to start the engine) that prevents the vehicle being driven or moved under its own power.

2

No anti-theft device shall operate on the braking system.

3

If any anti-theft device is, or incorporates, any mechanical device that acts upon a system that affects the control of the vehicle (e.g. the steering control)—

• (a) it shall not be possible to start the engine in the normal way until every such mechanical device has been deactivated,

• (b) it shall not be possible to activate any such mechanical device while the engine is running, and

• (c) the action of activating any such mechanical device shall be distinct and separate from that of stopping the engine.

1

Every adult belt fitted to the vehicle, not being a harness belt or a passive belt, shall comply with the requirements of regulation 47(7) of Construction and Use Regulations to the extent (if any) that it would apply were the said paragraph 7 to apply to all motor vehicles.

2

If the vehicle is fitted with one or more passive belts, every such belt shall—

• (a) bear a mark as described in regulation 47(4)(c)(i) of the Construction and Use Regulations; or

• (b) meet the requirements referred to in regulation 47(4)(c)(iii) of those Regulations.

3

If the vehicle is fitted with one or more harness belts, every such belt shall—

• (a) bear a mark as described in regulation 47(4)(c)(ii) of the Construction and Use Regulations; or

• (b) meet the requirements referred to in regulation 47(4)(c)(iv) of those Regulations.

1

The vehicle shall comply with the requirements of paragraph 4.3 of Annex I to Directive 76/115/EEC. For outboard seating positions other than in the front, two lower anchorages are allowed.

2

Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the vehicle shall be fitted with an anchorage in every position required to hold securely every adult belt or any part of an adult belt fitted to the vehicle.

3

Every anchorage intended for an adult belt shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs 4.2, 4.4 and 4.5 of Annex I to Directive 76/115/EEC.

4

The vehicle shall comply with the requirements of paragraph 5 of Annex I to Directive 76/115/EEC.

1

The vehicle shall be fitted with, a harness belt, a passive belt or a three point belt for the driver’s seat and the specified passenger seat (if any).

2

If the vehicle has an effective date on or after 1st April 1987, in addition to the seat belts required by paragraph 1 above, it shall be fitted with an appropriate belt for every other forward-facing seat in the front alongside the driver’s seat, not being a specified passenger’s seat.

3

If the vehicle has an effective date on or after 1st April 1987, in addition to the seat belts required by paragraph 1 and 2 above, it shall be fitted with a harness belt, a lap belt, a passive belt or three-point belt for every other forward-facing seat.

4

Every adult belt and every disabled person’s belt fitted to the vehicle shall be properly secured to anchorages provided for it and installed so that it can be used properly to restrain an occupant (e.g. in the case of a lap belt by passing over the pelvic region and in the case of a harness belt, a passive belt or a three-point belt by also restraining the upper torso and not being liable to slip off the shoulder). Also, there shall be no sharp edges liable to cause abrasion or damage to the belts in normal use. In the case of every lap belt, passive belt and three point belt, provision shall be made for their safe and convenient storage.

1

The vehicle shall comply with the requirements of paragraph 2.1 and 2.2 of Annex 1 of Directive 71/320/EEC as last amended by Directive 85/647/EEC; but in the application of that Annex (as so amended) for these purposes—

• (a) the second sentence of paragraph 2.2.1.2.4 shall not apply; and

• (b) paragraph 2.2.1.4.2 shall not apply in relation to a vehicle which is fitted with a braking device having a split-circuit transmission which enables braking of not less than one wheel on each side of the vehicle, in the event of failure in a part of the transmission of the service braking;

• (c) paragraph 2.2.1.5.1 shall apply as if for the last sentence there were substituted the words “This condition must be met by automatic means”.

2

If the vehicle is equipped with an anti-lock device it shall comply with paragraph 2.2.1.23 of 71/320/EEC as last amended by Directive 88/194/EEC.

3

The vehicle shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs 2.2.1.11.1 and 2.2.1.11.2 of Directive 71/320/EEC as last amended by Directive 91/422/EEC.

4

The secondary braking and service braking shall have the same control.

5

The brake efficiency shall be not less than—

• (a) for the service braking

• (i) in the case of a passenger vehicle, 60%; or

• (ii) in the case of a goods vehicle, 50%