New regulations for MotorCaravan Testing announced

it will be interesting to see how this works,i dont see anything regarding when it will begin

People power..... and finally somebody in a government department has listened.

A big thank you to all members on here who lobbied the RSA on this.

From the RSA document:

"However, as motor caravans are already required to have a roadworthiness certificate"

Eh, Where did they get that idea from?

Many people here got their own 'sewage treatment system' on board their motorcaravan? I've just got a removable tank, very old-fashioned :rolleyes:.

peasant wrote: »

From EU regulation soandso
Theoretically motorcarvans should have been subject to a test when the NCT came in (on foot of this EU regulation and some additional pressure) ...but someone made a boo-boo and left them in limbo-land between commercials and cars. The "Irish solution" was to have test requirements on paper but not to enforce or enact them.

Unfortunately they got found out recently and now the "official line" is that motorcaravans have "always been" subject to a test until they can finally nail this new procedure together (note how vague the leaflet is on the starting date? ) and get testing in earnest.

So if anyone from Brussels asks, my van has been tested every year since 2004.........;)


Forgot to add....Well done and thanks to all involved. It's great to see a good result!

killalanerr wrote: »

it will be interesting to see how this works,i dont see anything regarding when it will begin

The letter states that it should come into effect early in 2011.

I spoke to a guy at the RSA today and explained that my DOE test, on a 'van older than 10 years (by a long way) is due for renewal in May 2011 and he is confident that everything will be in force by then which means that my 'van will just scrape in for a 2 year test cert.

All in all I think we have all done quite well. Congrats to everybody.:D:D:D

Irishgoatman wrote: »

The letter states that it should come into effect early in 2011.

I spoke to a guy at the RSA today and explained that my DOE test, on a 'van older than 10 years (by a long way) is due for renewal in May 2011 and he is confident that everything will be in force by then which means that my 'van will just scrape in for a 2 year test cert.

All in all I think we have all done quite well. Congrats to everybody.:D:D:D

Does that mean if I DOE a van now I won't have to test it till Dec 2012

Hi folks, I'll answer these references to my posting one at a time.

Niloc1951, What banking problem ? I thought BIFFO had it all sorted .

Spacehopper, Yes I was told that existing certs.would be recognised as 2 year certs.

Niloc1951, yes you are right. I'm lazy with my typing. " 'van " is much quicker to type than " campervan and motorhome ". Also, I usually refer to my campervan as " the van " or " the camper " rather than campervan.

If anyone wants to PM me I can give you the name of the person in Ballina who has dealt with this as I'm sure he won't mind as he did tell me that he has spoken to quite a few other owners of 'vans.

Regards to all.
I've just put my 'van in the barn for the winter so when the weather changes look out for my little Romahome as I've still got a lot of places to visit. From Mayo to Kinsale was quite a long trip for me but I was very impressed with the town and the parking so will be definitely be going back there.

Macspower wrote: »

just got the same email... fair play I say.... it's all we asked for .... now if we could get the government to listen to us

As far as our interests are concerned, re: Campervans and Motorhomes, the letter clearly states that these recommendations by the RSA have been approved by the Minister for Transport so no problem. UNLESS of course there is a general election and a new minister is in place before the existing one signs off on them !!!!!!! Thern what ?

dowtchaboy wrote: »

why do we need more than the test centre would provide??

I've just settled for the one pass paper and have had no bother.
I have been assured that all this will change and a system set-up for us to have windscreen discs, but all this takes time. Until then I, for one, will not be paying for another piece of paper saying the same as the one issued by the testing garage. so there!.:D

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Then the new overlords will be too busy with the current state of affairs to be bothered with something as frivolous as this - hopefully;)

Sorry Fingers McGee but I'm one of the people who would be much happier knowing that the vehicle in front or behind me has been tested and, in theory, is safe to be on the road.:)

If we're lucky !:D

connel42 wrote: »

Mabye this has beenandswered already if so apologies.

I have a left hand drive camper which has the lights set to dip to the right.

Will these be acceptable for the test or will I have to fit beam benders or replace the lights completely?

Bad news, I'm afraid - here is the relevant section from the LGV manual which is what I presume will be used in the test:

Reasons for Failure - Dipped Beams
(11) Headlamps dipping to the right

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Vehicle%20Testing/LGV%20manual.pdf

Manual is worth a read - there will have to be a lot of interpretation done regarding auxiliary lamps and so on??
BTW I notice there is nothing in this manual about tyres needing to be C marked or less than X years old as reported elsewhere?

Sorry, but just a correction to my last posting. I think you will find that the mark referred to is E not C.