Vehicle Approvals Explained
It is a legal requirement in the UK (and Europe) to obtain vehicle approval if you build, rebuild, drastically alter, import, or reconstruct a classic car. All coachbuilders in UK and Europe are subject to this law. It is highly recommended that customers check carefully that their vehicle is approved in the correct way since this is very difficult to correct retrospectively.
Wilcox Limousines remains committed to testing all vehicles equally regardless of the method of approval.
Vehicle approvals are based on a variety of criteria at Wilcox Limousines, including:
- Cost against the number of products we expect to produce.
- Access to the donor vehicle manufacturers’ technical support.
- The potential time each avenue could take (with Brexit some types of approval have had large backlogs).
Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA)
This scheme is used if you are making a single or a small number of vehicles. High-end and luxury vehicle manufacturers such as McClaren, Bentley, JLR and Aston Martin use this scheme for their low-volume production vehicles.
The IVA involves a visual inspection, physical tests and documentary evidence of testing.
National Small Series Type Approval (NSSTA)
NSSTA allows manufacturers to demonstrate compliance. However, technical requirements that are costly are simplified, and the Conformity of Production (CoP) requirements are proportionate to the scale of the business. It is only valid in the geographic area of the approval i.e. GB/UK
In order for coachbuilders like Wilcox Limousines to access this scheme, they must either perform costly destructive tests themselves or be given access to the original vehicle’s approvals by the donor vehicle manufacturer.
GB Type Approval (GBTA)
This scheme will replace European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) and is the standard that large automotive manufacturers use when selling large volumes of vehicles.
In order for coachbuilders like Wilcox Limousines to access this scheme, they must either perform costly destructive tests themselves or be given access to the original vehicle’s approvals by the donor vehicle manufacturer.
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