The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.

Regulation 54 of the 1986 Regulations, which contains requirements concerning exhaust systems, is amended so as to allow certain vehicles to comply with directive 92/97/EEC or ECE regulation 51.02 and certain other vehicles to comply with directive 87/56/EEC or 89/235/EEC, instead of regulation 54(1).

Subject to exceptions, regulation 55 of the 1986 Regulations, requires vehicles with at least 3 wheels to be so constructed that they meet specified noise limits and their silencers meet specified requirements. The regulation is amended so that (except as described below) it does not apply to vehicles first used on or after 1st October 1996. The regulation is also amended so that vehicles first used before 1st October 1996 have the option of complying with the new Regulation 55A which is inserted by these regulations.

Subject to exceptions, regulation 55A requires vehicles first used on or after 1st October 1996 to be so constructed as to meet the noise limitation requirements specified in Council directive 70/157/EEC as amended by Council directive 92/97/EEC or as amended by Commission directive 96/20/EC. Certain vehicles first used on or after 1st October 1996 have the option of complying with this regulation or with regulation 55. The amendments exempt a vehicle from the new and existing requirements of these regulations if it is officially approved under directive 92/97/EEC, 96/20/EC or ECE Regulation 51.02.

Regulation 60(1) requires certain vehicles to comply at the time of first use with Council Directive 72/245/EEC (on the suppression of radio interference produced by spark ignition engines fitted to motor vehicles), with that Directive as amended by Commission Directive 89/491/EEC or with ECE Regulation 10 or 10.01. Regulation 60 is amended so that paragraph (1) will not apply to a vehicle first used on or after 1st January 1996 unless it falls within the definition of “vehicle” in Council Directive 70/156/EEC on the type approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (as amended) or is an agricultural motor vehicle. Paragraph (1) is amended so that vehicles to which the paragraph applies have the option of complying at the time of first use with Council Directive 72/245 as further amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC instead of with existing requirements. Regulation 6 of the 1986 Regulations sets out the circumstances when a vehicle is to be regarded as complying with a Directive at the time of first use.

These Regulations also insert a new paragraph (1A) in regulation 60, which has effect as from the 1st October 2002 and applies (with exceptions) to vehicles for which EC certificates of conformity have been issued. It makes it unlawful for a vehicle to which the paragraph applies to be fitted with any electrical/electronic sub-assembly that was not fitted to the vehicle when the certificate was issued unless the sub-assembly is marked in accordance with Directive 72/245/EEC as amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC.

Table II of Schedule 1 to Regulation 61 in the 1986 Regulations requires, inter alia, that certain vehicles propelled by compression ignition engines and first used on or after 1st October 1996 comply with the requirements relating to exhaust emission standards set out in directive 91/542/EEC. Regulation 61 is amended by these Regulations to allow a certain class of small diesel engines to meet the particulate exhaust emission standard specified in directive 96/1/EC instead of that specified in directive 91/542/EEC, for a limited period.

Regulations 55A and 61 are modified by a new Schedule 7XA, inserted by these Regulations, in relation to “end of series vehicles” and “late entry into service vehicles” as defined by that Schedule. The new Schedule subsumes the existing provisions in the 1986 Regulations in relation to “end of series vehicles” which are revoked by these Regulations.

Compliance Cost Assessments in respect of directives 92/97/EEC and 95/54/EC have been prepared and copies can be obtained from The Department of Transport, Zone 2/05, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR (Telephone [phone]). Copies have been placed in the Libraries of each House of Parliament.

Copies of the relevant directives and ECE regulations can be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationary Office. The details are set out in the table below.

DIRECTIVES

Principal Instrument	Amendments
Council Directive 70/156/EEC (OJ No. L42, 23.2.70, p.1).	Council Directive 87/403/EEC (OJ No. L220, 8.8.87, p.44); Council Directive 92/53/EEC (OJ No. L225, 10.8.92, p.6); and Council Directive 93/81/EEC (OJ No. L264, 23.10.93, p.49).
Council Directive 70/157/EEC (OJ No. L42, 23.2.70, p.16).	Commission Directive 73/350/EEC (OJ No. L321, 22.11.73, p.33); Council Directive 77/212/EEC (OJ No. L66, 12.3.77, p.33); Commission Directive 81/334/EEC (OJ No. L131, 18.5.81, p.6); Commission Directive 84/372/EEC (OJ No. L196, 26.7.84, p.47); Council Directive 84/424/EEC (OJ No. L238, 6.9.84, p.31); Council Directive 92/97/EEC (OJ No. L371, 19.12.92, p.1); Directive of the European Parliament and Council 96/20/EC (OJ No. L92, 13.4.96, p.23).
Council Directive 70/220/EEC (OJ No. L76, 6.4.70, p.1.) (SE 1970(I) p.171).	Council Directive 83/351/EEC (OJ No. L197, 20.7.83, p.1).
Council Directive 72/245/EEC (OJ No. L152, 6.7.72, p.15).	Council Directive 75/322/EEC (OJ No. L147, 9.6.75, p.78); and Commission Directive 95/54/EC (OJ No. L266, 8.11.95, p.1).
Council Directive 78/1015/EEC (OJ No. L349, 13.12.78, p.21).	Council Directive 87/56/EEC (OJ No. L24, 27.1.87, p.42); Council Directive 89/235/EEC (OJ No. L98, 11.4.89, p.1).
Council Directive 82/890/EEC (OJ No. L378, 31.12.82, p.45).
Council Directive 88/77/EEC (OJ No. L36, 9.2.88, p.33).	Council Directive 91/542/EEC (OJ No. L295, 25.10.91, p.33); Directive of the European Parliament and Council 96/1/EC (OJ No. L40, 17.2.96, p.1).

ECE REGULATIONS

Principal Instrument	Amending Instruments
Regulation 10 annexed to the Agreement Concerning the Adoption of Uniform Conditions of Approval for Motor Vehicle Equipment and Parts and Reciprocal Recognition of Approval concluded at Geneva on 20th March 1958 (Cmnd 2535) as amended (Cmnd 3562) to which the United Kingdom is a party by an instrument of accession dated 14th January 1963 deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations on the 15th January 1963.	Amended on 19th March 1978.
Regulation 51 annexed to the Agreement.	Amended on 21st October 1984 and 27th April 1988, corrected on 20th June 1988 and amended on 12th September 1991, 18th April 1995 and 6th May 1996.