Commercial Craft and CE marking

“chartered, i.e. hired, recreational craft are covered by the Directive, as are recreational craft used for recreational boating training. In both cases, the activity is not a commercial passenger transport activity but one for sports or leisure purposes, even if the craft is hired with crew.“

This means that a boat is not excluded simply because money is exchanging hands for the use of the boat. Further, it is not necessarily exempt if there is a paid crew on board the hired craft.

The key is to focus on the use of the boat. If it is clearly being used for recreation, ie simply for the pleasure of passing some time afloat, then it is in scope, regardless of money or crew. If the hired boat is being used as a mode of transport, or for racing, then it is excluded. Note also that education/training is not excluded if it relates to using the craft recreationally.

It is not true that a boat is exempt from RCD because it has approval as a commercial vessel.

It should also be remembered that an excluded boat may be sold into the recreational market later in its life. The boat would need to be CE marked (or UKCA marked for UK-only) at this stage. As a result, it may be worthwhile dealing with the commercial approval and CE marking at the same time as the two regimes overlap.

What is the RCD

The Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) outlines the legal safety standards your vessel must comply with to be sold in Europe. This includes sales in the UK.

Official Reference: 2013/53/EU – Directive 2013/53/EU (known as RCD II) replaced RCD I which carried the references 94/25/EC and as amended by 2003/44/EC. 

The Recreational Craft Directive covers the design and manufacture of recreational boats and personal watercraft, but it does not regulate their operation. It applies to craft with hull lengths from 2.5 m to 24 m (8 ft 2 in to 78 ft 8 in).

The Directive applies to:

• All new craft
• Second-hand craft imported into the EU, regardless of age
• Craft that has undergone a Major Craft Conversion
• Recreational craft previously used as commercial vessels

Manufacturers must assign a design category to each boat. This category sets targets for the craft’s assessment. The Directive also identifies five groups of components that must receive CE marking before entering the market.

About HPi Verification Services

HPiVS began in 1996 as a department within AEA Technology Plc, a FTSE 200 company. The Certification Services Department of the Atomic Energy Authority was subsequently sold to private investors and has been operating continuously since its foundation.

Although the name “HPi Verification Services” has only existed since June 2010, the current CEO has been with the organisation since its foundation in 1997 and working in CE marking since before the RCD and PED Directives were in force.

The HPiVS  staff have been employed by the EU Commission as their representatives for several missions into Eastern Europe to assess EU applicant nations’ preparations for compliance with CE marking legislation and to train government officials and captains of industry.

HPiVS have partnerships with inspection companies all over the world, including American Bureau ofShipping (ABS Group), British Cert, ApplusRTD, Shanghai Via-Cert and Shanghai OUC.

HPiVS also work with a network of trusted individual specialist consultants around the world to offer expert compliance solutions combined with local knowledge and on-the-ground support, so you can get the right certification wherever you are.