New regulations for MotorCaravan Testing announced

Buford T Justice

Got this email from the RSA today. Looks like the listened to some of what we said,
Quick Summary:

• We still need to get a DOE cert and pay the €8 at the tax office
  
• Testing will be done at the VTN sites
• Testing will be carried out every two years (Wow), but annual testing for motor caravans over 10 years, (Damn)
• Same charge as LGV for test
  
• They have approved the retrospective glazing marks for motorcaravan windows. This is a big victory I think. - Aidan, does this mean that yer man that bought the big yoke from the USA can now get a cert?
  
• Currently they will not be testing for Gas
  
• Waste water and sewage to be tested for leaks..

Have a read (attached) It doesn't look like we did too bad out of this one.

killalanerr

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

peasant

Now where do I know that exact marking from ??? :D:D



Do think I could ask for 10 free tests for copyright infringements ?

stapeler

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.

stapeler

peasant wrote: »

Now where do I know that exact marking from ??? :D:D



Do think I could ask for 10 free tests for copyright infringements ?

Or make you an honorary member of the the RSA

salamander27

From the RSA document:

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

Eh, Where did they get that idea from?

peasant

salamander27 wrote: »

From the RSA document:

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

Eh, Where did they get that idea from?

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.

tibia

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

Buford T Justice

peasant wrote: »

Now where do I know that exact marking from ??? :D:D



Do think I could ask for 10 free tests for copyright infringements ?

I had a feeling it looked familiar alright. That could be your claim to fame

salamander27

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!

demoreino

Well done to all who put their view forward to the RSA and to the RSA for listening.

Kevin www.iwmotorhomes.ie

Irishgoatman

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

niloc1951

Now, how about we set about fixing the banking problem :D

Seriously though, doesn't it feel good to take on 'city hall' and get a good result.

Pity about all you guys with the tag axles though it's a bit shabby charging ye extra, after all the Alko axle is a very simple unit and has very little to it, it has nothing like the number of wearing parts to be checked as found in a truck.

Thanks to all who contributed to the campaign.

spaceHopper

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

niloc1951

spaceHopper wrote: »

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

I think when irishgoatman says " 'van " he means motor caravan or campervan and is using the ' to cover the motor cara or camper bit of the full description.

Vans as described in vehicle category N1 and N2 are not the subject of this topic.

Irishgoatman

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

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

Irishgoatman

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

We still need to get a DOE cert and pay the €8 at the tax office

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

Irishgoatman

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

Buford T Justice

Irishgoatman wrote: »

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 ?

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

Irishgoatman

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.:)

Buford T Justice

I agree, my point being the new gov't will be too busy to look to change anything, and let it go through instead.

Irishgoatman

If we're lucky !:D

connel42

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?

dowtchaboy

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?

Irishgoatman

dowtchaboy wrote: »

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:



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?

Hi, I posted a thread on 02/11/10 with regard to a rumour that a car dealer friend of mine had heard regarding tyres over 6 years old not being good enough for the NCT people. No-one came on that thread to say if they had heard the same thing so maybe it's not true. But I am sure that they need the C mark. Have a look at that thread as there is a link to a web page giving good info. regarding tyres.

Irishgoatman

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

dowtchaboy

Irishgoatman wrote: »

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

My bad - E it is! Have heard this elsewhere but can't find a link.
It will be interesting to see just how awkward they will be - stuff like do we need commercial rated tyres and so on.

MOBILVETTA

Hi new to motorhomeing and was following all posts with great interest. My sons 19 year old car passed the nct with 2 tires over 6 years old but with an advisory note.

Irishgoatman

MOBILVETTA wrote: »

Hi new to motorhomeing and was following all posts with great interest. My sons 19 year old car passed the nct with 2 tires over 6 years old but with an advisory note.

Hi, glad you've joined us.

Could you be a little more specific about the advisory note please. This sounds interesting.

MOBILVETTA

Advisory note was basically to get new tires fitted asap. The tires had plenty of grip left on them but it was the age and possibility of perishing. The car passed the test wit the tires 6 yrs old.

Irishgoatman

MOBILVETTA wrote: »

Advisory note was basically to get new tires fitted asap. The tires had plenty of grip left on them but it was the age and possibility of perishing. The car passed the test wit the tires 6 yrs old.

Thanks very much.

I will be ringing the guy at the RSA that I've been talking with and get this clarified with him. If this applies to cars, it will also apply to us with our 'vans.
I'll be back with an update A.S.A.P.

Buford T Justice

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Thanks very much.

I will be ringing the guy at the RSA that I've been talking with and get this clarified with him. If this applies to cars, it will also apply to us with our 'vans.
I'll be back with an update A.S.A.P.

Keep us posted IG

Irishgoatman

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Keep us posted IG

O.K. folks, let's see if can cover what the RSA have told me just this morning.

The Advisory Note basically is telling you that, because of the age of the tyres, they will be looked at more carefully during the next test. If the tyres show no obvious sign of side wall damage or wear then another advisory note could be given. It does not mean that the tyres will automatically fail the next test. This will apply in the same way to campervans.
There are, at the moment, no plans to make tyres over a certain age illegal although some, didn't go into detail, E.U. countries do have such regulations.

The guy at the RSA emailed me a rather long, and complex, pdf document issued by the U.K. tyre industry regarding tyres for Campervans and Motorhomes.

This document states that we should be using commercial grade tyres relating to the weight of the vehicle, and I imagine that we are (I'm going to get mine checked on this point). They also recommend that 7 years is the maximum life of a tyre but less if the vehicle is stored/standing unused for a long time frequently as in the winter months.

I think that just about covers it.

If anyone wants the pdf document let me know and I'll attach it on another posting. It is 2.75mb but I'll see how much I can resize it by.

Phew!!!

Macspower

I really dont mind the tyre bit.. but thats probably down to experience. When I bought my motorhome it had 4 perfect looking tyres on it with plenty of grip left on them..

the first week out I got a blowout on the motorway on the back left and a week later I got a blow out on the motorway again on the opposite side..

I just replaced all 4 tyres and never had a problem since.. Both tyres blew out on the sidewalls and on closer examination they had signs of perishing..

Irishgoatman

Macspower wrote: »

I really dont mind the tyre bit.. but thats probably down to experience. When I bought my motorhome it had 4 perfect looking tyres on it with plenty of grip left on them..

the first week out I got a blowout on the motorway on the back left and a week later I got a blow out on the motorway again on the opposite side..

I just replaced all 4 tyres and never had a problem since.. Both tyres blew out on the sidewalls and on closer examination they had signs of perishing..

As you said "Down to experience".
As the the new regulations for us will not cover tyres in any way different to that of the NCT on cars it's down to the individual to keep an eye on his tyres.