Trailer Certification
With the introduction of the recast framework Directive 2007/46/EC, categories of vehicles which previously did not require Whole Vehicle type Approval will be required to have Type Approval on a phased in basis. As of the 29th October 2012 all complete trailers of categories O1, O2, O3 and O4 will be required to have type approval.
There are 3 options available for manufacturers to have their trailers type approved:
Depending on the type of business you are in and the range of trailers (and the intended market) any of the 3 options above might suit your needs. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages as regards cost and validity. If you are manufacturing small quantities of trailers intended for the Irish market than an IVA or NSSTA might best suit your needs. If your intended market is for outside of Ireland than ECWVTA would be advisable as there is no guarantee that another member state would accept an Irish National Approval i.e. IVA or NSSTA in their territory.
NSAI has appointed a number of
Approved test centres (ATC’s) with the capability of carrying out any inspections or tests required for NSSTA or IVA.
If an ECWVTA is required then one of NSAI’s appointed
technical services can carry out the required tests and inspections required.
Whether you choose to go for ECWVTA or NSSTA, one of the key benefits of both is that a number of varying models may be covered under the one approval. In order to determine which models of trailers can be covered under the one approval please refer to "
type, variant and version" which defines what can be classed within one “type”.
Once the specification has been decided, the applicable application form should be down loaded from the applicable section. Application forms can be downloaded from
Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) or
National Small Series Type Approval (NSSTA). If an approval for ECWVTA is required than it would be best to contact one of NSAI’s appointed technical services directly.
On receipt of the applicable application form for NSSTA or IVA, NSAI would advise on what tests or inspections would be required to be carried out by the ATC’s. The application form should be complimented with a full technical description of all the trailers in the range i.e. dimensional drawings, photos, etc. Details would also be required of all the components which already have separate approval i.e coupling approval, tyre approval markings, lighting component approvals. It would be strongly advised to use when available approved components as unapproved components would require separate testing by the applicant which could be quiet expensive and in many cases un practical.
Areas of inspection for trailers:
The following is a summarised version of the areas in which a trailer would be assessed for National type approval:
For each of the above areas please see
NSSTA or
IVA for full list of requirements and applicable legislation
Conformity of production (COP)
One of the cornerstones of type approval is the verification of COP arrangements for the type to be approved. This ensures the continuing production of units to the specification within the type approval documents. NSAI will carry out an audit of the quality management system in place to verify the initial assessment requirements. A quality management system certified to ISO 9001 will go someway to meeting the requirements of this assessment.
Once the initial assessment requirements have been met approval can be granted. NSAI may than carry out review audits on an annual or bi annual basis to ensure continued conformity.