From RSA website

Des32

Found this today under the vehicle standards section on rsa website.

Motor Caravans

Motor caravans / motor homes / camper vans are a special-purpose vehicle which include living accommodation. From April 29th 2012 they will be required to adhere to ECWVTA approval before it can be registered for road use in Ireland.

peasant

to flesh that out a bit:

Motor caravans / motor homes / camper vans
These are categorised as ‘special-purpose vehicles’, vehicles that require specific technical features to perform certain functions.

They are constructed to inculde living accommodation which contains at a minimun:

seats and table
sleeping accommodation which may be converted from the seats
cooking facilities
storage facilities
All above must be rigidly fixed to the living compartment area, however the table may be designed to be easily removable .

From 29th April 2012, such vehicles will be required to adhere to the requirements of European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) to be granted registration by the Revenue Commissioners.

ECWVTA is a series of stringent tests that a vehicle, or part of a vehicle (like its brakes), must pass before it is allowed to be used on a public road.

There are also national approval schemes for the approval of vehicles manufactured in Ireland in a small series or on a one-off basis.

To register a new motor caravan in Ireland you must prove the vehicle has ECWVTA or national approval.

Following registration, motor caravans must comply with ‘Construction, Equipment and Use’ regulations.

You must use a competent converter if you covert your motor caravan from a van. Your local motor taxation office (.doc) may require proof that the conversion complies with Construction, Equipment & Use regulations

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Vehicles-and-Legislation/Vehicle-Standards/Leisure-vehicles/

The main aim of the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval(ECWVTA) is that vehicles are manufactured to conform to an approved type or standard.

A vehicle which has ECWVTA is issued with a Certificate of Conformity which means it can be registered in any EU Member State.

ECWVTA helps to remove barriers to trade for manufacturers and also ensures common safety and environmental standards for operators and consumers.

It has applied to cars since 1998.

A new Directive - the Recast Framework Directive (2007/46/EC) was negotiated over several years and extends whole vehicle type approval to all commercial vehicles including the following:

vans
minibuses
buses
coaches
heavy goods vehicles
caravans
small and large trailers
horseboxes
Approval authority
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is the Irish appointed approval authority and will be responsible for issuing all national approvals (IVA or NSSTA) for vehicles in Ireland.

To deliver the national approval schemes, the NSAI has established a network of Appointed Test Centres (ATC) to undertake testing for these vehicle approvals. Although the ATCs will issue test reports for some or all of the technical requirements, NSAI will be the only authority to grant approvals in Ireland.

ECWVTA is mutually recognized throughout the EU and therefore can be obtained from the appointed approval authority in any Member State.

Further Information
If you need further information on ECWVTA or type approval you can email ecwvta@rsa.ie or phone 096-25040

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Vehicles-and-Legislation/Vehicle-Standards/Vehicle-type-approval-ECWVTA/

So, anyone converting their own camper better hurry up and finish before April 2012.


Stupid regulation, IMO.
What's the harm if I take a normal van and put some furniture into it without changing any of it's mechanical components or structural features? Why would I need type approval for that?

Typical Irish bureaucracy again ...totally overshooting the target and putting an end to home conversions.

Panda Moanium

This Whole Vehicle Type Approval thing has huge implications right across the transport sector for anyone involved in post manufacture modifications from fitting box bodies to vans to tipper trucks to the humble car derived van.

In fact it will likely see the end of Irish specials such as those car derived vans and commercial jeeps which are converted from passenger vehicles after they arrive in Ireland. As I understand, a manufacturer will have to have separate crash testing done if they sell more than ten units, something I cannot see Irish distributors doing.

Its a pain for campervans but at the end of the day it is down to who is responsible when things go wrong - if a component that wasn't part of the vehicle's original fitment is responsible for causing an accident, where does the liability lie?

Macy0161

Apologies for dragging this thread up, but we're again mulling over a self build option, to get what we want from a 'van.

How complete do the revenue require a conversion to sign it off as a motorcaravan? If it meets the bed and cooking requirements will they sign it off with blank canvas areas (for want of a better expression)?

johnnybo y

Hi folks i,ve just purchased a 02 transit its fully lined out and has lights and windows of course i just want a basic conversion its not the full lenght and its a semi high roof 1,m just 6 foot and can nearly stand up in it whats my next step any advice grealy appreciated or if you knowof anyone who,ed take on the jobof converting it for me Ta