Type approval will end 'soft-touch'
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NATIONAL TYPE approval for goods vehicles will become compulsory for vehicles manufactured on or after July 1, 1982, and first used on or after January 1, 1983, writes Graham Montgomerie.
This has been announced by Transport Minister Norman Fowler and follows comments made by the Prime Minister at the SMMT dinner on the eve of the Motor Show.
The type approval scheme — which has been requested by UK manufacturers for some time — will cover all types of goods vehicles from three wheelers up to the heaviest lorries, though trailers are not included.
In future, manufacturers will need to have each model type approved by the Department of Transport as meeting certain prescribed standards before their vehicles can be used in the UK. Initially, the Department proposes that these standards will be as per Construction and Use Regulations related to the following: brakes, exhaust emissions, noise, manufacturer's plate, power-to-weight ratio, springs and radio interference suppression.
Once a type approval certifi cate has been issued, the manufacturer will be required to notify the Minister about any alterations to the vehicle.
Predictably the UK manufacturers are delighted with the proposals. As a Leyland spokesman put it: "We have been campaigning for type approval for some time. It will stop Britain being the soft touch for European factories."
At ERF, Peter Foden commented: "We're all in favour but it's a bit late to be effective in the short-term," while Seddon Atkinson's marketing director John Bradley also welcomed the proposals: "We do seem to have had an open door attitude in the past so anything that stops it being that easy is a good thing."