Legalities of DIY car repair?

moka54

Hi Folks, just trying to find some information about the legal situation with repairing/maintaining your own car. In Ireland are individuals legally allowed to maintain/repair their own vehicles. Are there any legal risks one could face etc? Is anyone aware of any legislation that covers this area? Any previous threads covering this?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Tropheus

I'm not aware of any specific legislation around maintaining your own car. I would guess the standard legislation in terms of liability if a bad repair was shown to be the cause of a serious accident.

Work on cars isn't regulated in the same way as working on gas appliances where you need to be registered AFAIK. I can't see it changing in the future as I'm not aware of there being a major safety issue.

It's all about researching and taking your time. If you're not sure what you're doing, get a professional to do it.

biko

Motors DIY >> Legal discussion

nuac

Mod
Moka54, is this a bona fide enquiry or are you working on a project?

NUTLEY BOY

I assume that the owner is not a qualified motor mechanic.
I do not know of any laws on this equivalent to electricians or gas fitters/installers.

However, if you make a repair that is inadequate and possibly goes as far as rendering a vehicle dangerously defective there might well be adverse consequences in both civil law and criminal law and, for good measure, might also render any motor insurance invalid.

The question of degree arises.
If it is a simple repair such as replacing bulbs, spark plugs or even a small bit of bodywork that would be unlikely to be a problem.
However, once you enter the realm of creating a vehicle that is a danger on the road in direct consequence of amateur repairs you head for trouble.

I once had a client who did a botched DIY job on a car.
He had to come to a sudden stop at a traffic light.
The car stopped but was overtaken by one of the rear wheels which then proceeded to hit a pedestrian

If doing a DIY job of substance it really should be left to an expert or at least any project should be overseen by one.

dennyk

There's no specific legal issue with performing repairs and maintenance on your own car as far as I know. As others have mentioned, there would be potential liability issues should a modification or repair you've made be the cause of damage or injury to a third party, but that's not specific to vehicles in any way, just a general matter of liability.

There are some potential related legal matters, though:

- Written-off vehicles under Category A (vehicle is damaged to such an extent that it would be unsafe to drive and no parts of the vehicle can be recovered or re-used) and Category B (vehicle which is structurally damaged and unsafe to operate, but whose parts could be recovered and re-used in other vehicles) are no longer legal to drive on a public road under any circumstances, even if you've attempted to make repairs. You would not be able to register such a vehicle or complete an NCT test (assuming its condition was reported by the insurance company who deemed the vehicle totaled, of course, as mandated by the Road Traffic Act 2016, Part 2), so it would theoretically be impossible to drive it legally on that basis (and if you did have one that slipped through the cracks, you could be held accountable for driving a dangerously defective vehicle if it's later found out).

- Making modifications to a registered car that are so extensive that it is legally no longer the same vehicle afterwards (e.g. swapping the chassis out for another) or that change other characteristics recorded on the registration (passenger capacity, engine size, vehicle category, etc.) might require you to declare such changes, or even re-register the vehicle, which often requires a professional certification of the work in question.

- If your DIY repairs don't bring the car up to the necessary standards to pass the NCT (and/or the roadworthiness tests for commercial vehicles, if applicable), or modifications you make to the vehicle cause it to fail the NCT, then you'd be unable to drive it legally until it was brought back up to standard and passed the test, of course. Similarly, if your work ends up making the car unroadworthy or unsafe to operate, you could be subject to a penalty if the guards catch you driving it around in a dangerous state.

- If your vehicle is financed, the terms of your finance agreement might require you to have any repairs made at a professional repair shop (since lenders don't generally want to risk you screwing up their valuable collateral with a botched DIY job).

Victor

Falsifying the identity or making alterations that don't comply with the type certification would be issues.

Atlantic Dawn

If it passes the NCT and shouldn't have it's the NCT's problem.