BOAT CE CERTIFICATION RECREATIONAL CRAFT DIRECTIVE COMPLIANCE

Tim Withrington, director of ASEA Yacht Design Pty Ltd, is the appointed IMCI and NMMA Inspector for Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia regions.

RECREATIONAL CRAFT DIRECTIVE

The Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) entered into application as from 16 June 1996 and became fully applicable as from 16 June 1998. As from this date, manufacturers and importers may no longer place pleasure craft and components on the EEA market which do not comply with the essential requirements of the Directive. In addition to these technical requirements, the Directive imposes the manufacturer to keep a technical file of all relevant data, to officially state the conformity of the product in a Declaration of Conformity, to affix the CE Marking on it and to inform the end users about its safe use and maintenance through a builder's plate and an owner's manual.

Recreational Craft are defined as "any craft intended for sport or leisure purposes, regardless of the type or the means of propulsion, with a hull length of 2.5 to 24 meters, measured according to the appropriate harmonised standards'. The Directive applies to pleasure craft, partially completed boats and loose and assembled components.

The following information has been prepared to assist boat builders and/or responsible persons in achieving the compliance of their boat(s) with the Directive.

NOTIFIED BODY ‘INTERNATIONAL MARINE CERTIFICATION INSTITUTE’ (IMCI)

IMCI is an EU commissioned notified body, with head office based in the Brussels Belgium. IMCI acts as an independent, non-profit organisation committed to adding value to worldwide recreational craft industry by assessing CE compliance of companies, products, services and experts with the highest recognised standards of quality and safety. Customer satisfaction can only be achieved with highly qualified and motivated staff and the help of the most advanced technology. IMCI mission - "Modern simplicity instead of classical complexity"

The customers of IMCI will be able to display the CE-mark on products which are covered by the Recreational Craft Directive 94/25/EC as amended by Directive 2003/44/EC.

RECREATIONAL CRAFT SECTORAL GROUP (RSG)

The Recreational Craft Sectoral Group (RSG) was established to assist in the uniform application and interpretation of the amended RCD by all Notified Bodies. The Group meets under the supervision of the EU Commission who has the copyright on the RSG Guidelines which are intended to assist with the conformity assessment procedures undertaken by Notified Bodies.

RSG GUIDELINES

The objective of the RSG Guidelines is to help designers and builders ensure their product complies with, and may be satisfactorily assessed against the RCD. As drafted these Guidelines are the best tool available to assist with ensuring compliance. Part E reproduces the Essential Requirements of the Directive and gives interpretations of what the RSG consider to be the most appropriate method of achieving compliance.

The Guidelines reproduce many parts of the Directive including the Annex I, the Essential Requirements to which boats must comply. The RSG Guidelines may be viewed at the website http://rsg.balport.com/ registration is free.

HARMONISED STANDARDS

Before the builder can display the CE-mark on the boat he/she needs to be satisfied that the boat complies with the RCD, in particular the Essential Requirements [RSG Part E]. This is normally undertaken by the application of Harmonised ISO Standards adopted in support of (mandated to) the RCD. These Standards are available through IMCI Guided Application System (GAS) as a client or independently via RuleFinder (www.rulefinder.net) and also via ISO Standards websites (search ‘Google’ for such). As a client of IMCI you can purchase online access to the ISO standards via RuleFinder at a membership price.

A list of the current harmonised standards are presented on the following link: Harmonised Standards

IMCI GUIDED APPLICATION SYSTEM (GAS)

Reasons why you should join IMCI GAS:

1. Save time
Stop losing time looking for the right document and managing the editions. IMCI GAS consists of all RCD documents in one package linked together. We also keep our archive alive so you can retrieve old standards if you want.

2. Get reliable information
We set up our service with all the checks and balances needed for you to sail directly on the information.

3. Up-to-date
Our authors continuously insert new up-to-date documents and information directly from the source and work floor.

4. Cut to the bone
Subscriptions are available in different fields of interest providing cut to the bone information and lose of non-necessary documents. Also IMCI GAS is available online, which without a doubt is most of the time the best option, however if you want we will deliver a stand-alone CD-rom version, intranet or network version.

5. Direct and selective search
Through our sophisticated search engine we direct you easy and quick to the technical requirement you are looking fore.

6. Easier administration of the assessment paperwork
Through GAS you can edit your application forms. Already given and typed information will automatically get inserted on further documents if part of the same project.

7. Learn and educate yourself
Get and keep knowledge on the requirements at your desk or on your work floor through IMCI GAS rather than hiring a consultant who leaves with it after his work is finished.

8. Read what the experts approve
Use our practical expert explanations on unclear requirements to learn how you can solve that practical problem and get it approved by your certification authority.

9. You deserve it!
IMCI GAS simply is the best service available. You, your colleagues and your product simply deserves it.

10. Save money
Through our agreements with our suppliers we offer you the ISO standards at a fraction of their individual price.

Here you will find the IMCI GAS fees.

RSG ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

See the RSG Guidelines 2010 ( Part E. Annex I – essential requirements) for the essential safety requirements applicable to your boat certification project.

 

“We look forward to working with you on your CE certification project”