The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981

EXPLANATORY NOTE

1.These Regulations revoke the Regulations specified in Schedule 1 which dealt with the conditions of fitness, equipment and use required in relation to certain public service vehicles, and the approval under section 130 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 of a vehicle as a type vehicle and certificates as to the conformity of a vehicle to a type vehicle.

2. In so far as the provisions of the Regulations which are revoked were cast in imperial units of measurement they are reproduced cast in metric units as required by Council Directive 80/181/EEC of 20th December 1979. In no respect does this metrication make the requirements more stringent.

3. These Regulations also make minor amendments to the form in which some of the provisions were cast in the Regulations which are revoked.

4. As regards older vehicles, the Regulations which are revoked contained exemptions from certain of their requirements. For example some of these exemptions related to a vehicle registered on or before 1st July 1931; some related to a vehicle registered before 1st October 1936. The possibility of any such vehicle being in use on a road and requiring a certificate of initial fitness (other than such a certificate which, by virtue of section 17(2) of the Transport Act 1980 is deemed to be a certificate of initial fitness) is so extremely remote that it is considered no longer justifiable to continue in these Regulations detailed exemptions as regards such a vehicle. Accordingly no exemptions as to existing vehicles are retained unless the date of registration before which they apply is 1st January 1947 or later.

5. The Regulations relating to the conditions of fitness of the vehicles in point were keyed to the requisite certificate of fitness lasting, in accordance with section 129(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1960, for seven years. Under the Transport Act 1980 that section has been repealed, and septennial certificates of fitness are replaced by certificates of initial fitness to which no limit of time is attached. Part II of these Regulations prescribe, under section 17(1) of the 1980 Act, the conditions of fitness which must be fulfilled before a certificate of initial fitness is issued. These conditions extend to an articulated bus following the amendment to section 191 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 which has been made by section 63 of the 1980 Act.

6. Part III of the Regulations continues the present provisions relating to the equipment required to be carried on a vehicle of the kind in point. Part IV continues the present restrictions on the manner in which such a vehicle may be used.

7. Regulations 46 and 47 in Part V prescribe the manner of application and the fee for a certificate of initial fitness and the form of such a certificate. Regulations 48 to 54 in Part V of the Regulations contain provisions relating to—

By virtue of Regulation 53 the fee for a certificate of conformity is increased from £1 to £5.

8. Regulation 55 contains provisions as to the Minister being notified of the registration of a vehicle after the issue of a certificate of initial fitness or a certificate of conformity.

9. Regulation 56 contains provisions relating to appeals to the Minister of Transport against the refusal of a certifying officer to grant a certificate of initial fitness or a type approval certificate.

10. Regulation 57 contains provisions as to duplicate certificates.