Rules and regulations

My recent meeting with a project manager for leisure boating from the Ministry of Transport at the Grand Pavois in La Rochelle answered a few questions and raised a few more. The following concerns European amateur boat builders and probably designers who wish to sell plans here. I hope that it provides some insight into the legal side of amateur boat building here for our other readers too.

In Europe there is a directive governing boat building, professional and amateur alike, and there are also the regulations for each country that existed before the directive. The directive states the norms to be applied to the plans and these ISO norms are not very different from those governing boat construction in the USA and Australia. The ISO documents are available online, for a fee... When I have 146 spare Swiss Francs I would like to look at EN-ISO 12217-1. For the moment most countries are still applying their old regulations and will do so until the directive becomes mandatory for all. France (as it often does) has jumped the gun and applied the directive as of last year.

The ISO norms are the basic stability and float ability tests done the world over. Depending on the result the boat is classified in a "category of conception" of which there are five:
A - "high seas" the boat can withstand any weather and wave condition
B - "off shore" the boat can withstand wind up to 8 Beaufort and waves up to 4 metres high
C - "coastal waters" the boat can withstand wind up to 6 Beaufort and waves up to 2 metres
D - "protected waters" the boat can withstand wind up to 4 Beaufort and waves up to 0.50 metres.
Most of the boats we build as amateurs are in the B,C and D classes. Obtaining classification in the C and D categories is quite straight forward. Well almost, the easiest way is to set up shop as a boat builder and auto classify the boat... There are, of course, many plans and kits available from local designers that are certified in these two categories. A and B categories are a different kettle of fish. Classification must be done by a classification body such as Veritas, Lloyd's, RINA and so on. As you may imagine, the cost of certification is well beyond the means of an amateur boat builder. I am very interested in obtaining B classification for the bateau.com TW28 because that would mean I could legally cross the Channel or the Bay of Biscay for example (not to mention motoring over to Corsica).

I can understand the need for rules and norms, especially when they concern quality of construction and when preserving human life is at stake. Where I do have issues is that the current state of obtaining certification makes amateur boat building difficult and very expensive. Amateur boat builders are good for the economy, they buy lots of stuff and that means jobs and revenue in the leisure boating sector. The current state of affairs in Europe means that a lot of people who would consider building are put off by the paper work. That must be bad for the economy must it not?

The shortcomings of the current directive with regard to amateur construction have been noticed by the people in the Ministry of Transport here in France. My conversation was concluded by a promise that modifications are being worked on. A change (another...) is in the works for the summer of 2007. A round table is under way between concerned parties and if I can, I would very much like to be your voice, European reader of amateurboatbuilding.com at that round table.

Please consider sending in the details of rules and regulations in your country (web site address where they can be found) so that we can add it to our world map!

IMCI english pages Some interesting links and downloads here.

Tony Grant [kiwi]