Motor vehicle type approval is the method by which motor vehicles, vehicle trailers and systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles achieve type approval in the European Union (EU) or in other UN-ECE member states. There is no EU approval body: authorized approval bodies of member states are responsible for type approval, which will be accepted in all member states.
This is outlined in framework directive Directive 2007/46/EC [1] (here EC refers to the European community prior to the EU) rules approval schemes of the new motor vehicles and their trailers in the European Union: [2]
The European Commission shall adopt amendments to this Directive which are necessary to lay down technical requirements for small series vehicles, vehicles approved under the individual approval procedure and 'special purpose vehicles'. [1]
ECE Regulations to which the Community has acceded and which are listed in Part I of Annex IV and in Annex XI of the frame Directive are part of the EC type-approval of a vehicle in the same way as the separate directives or regulations. They shall apply to the categories of vehicles listed in this Annexes. When the Community has decided to apply on a compulsory basis a UNECE Regulation for the purpose of EC vehicle type-approval in accordance with Article 4(4) of Decision 97/836/EC, [4] the annexes to the Frame Directive shall be amended as appropriate in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 40(2). The UNECE Regulations listed in Part II of Annex IV are recognised as being equivalent to the corresponding separate directives or regulations in as much as they share the same scope and subject matter. Where the Community has decided to apply a new UNECE Regulation or a UNECE Regulation as amended, Part II of Annex IV shall be amended as appropriate. [1]
Automotive EC Directives and ECE Regulations require third party approval - testing, certification and production conformity assessment by an independent body. Each member state is required to appoint an Approval Authority to issue the approvals, and a Technical Service to carry out the testing to the Directives and Regulations.
An approval issued by one Authority will be accepted in all the Member States. [5] If a vehicle is produced in a very small quantity (e.g. M1 maximum 75 per year), single EU Member States can grant exception on a discretionary basis, however the validity of the Type Approval is limited to the boundaries of those Nations which concede to it. [6]
Cornerstones of the Type Approval process are: [6]
A particular country’s Type Approval may consist of one or more of the following forms:
There are multiple methods of type-approval: [1]
EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval (also called Pan European Type Approval) is to prevent trade barriers, and at the same time guarantee the level of safety and restricted environmental influence of a vehicle. Thanks to that, the car can be registered in each European member state without additional national tests or approval. This harmonisation results in reduced costs and lead time for the manufacturer, importer as well as the consumer. Mandatory compliance date for ECWVTA for M1 vehicles was 2009-04-29. [8] However cars that already have an ECWVTA but are imported from non EC countries often need to be re-approved when entering the EC. [9]
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is:
Brexit consequences are not treated. (February 2021) |
In the United Kingdom, this function is performed by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). [10] This body has the power to issue International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications.
Coc number may look like: e13*2001/116*0260 where e13 is the UNECE state number, 2001/116 is the EC/EU directive name [11].
Type approval for electric vehicles is governed by Regulation No 100 of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UNECE) – Uniform provisions concerning the approval of battery electric vehicles with regard to specific requirements for the construction, functional safety and hydrogen emission. [12]