The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001

Regulation 1(2)

SCHEDULE 1 U.K. REGULATIONS REVOKED

Title of Regulations	Number	Extent of revocation
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1971	1971/450	Regulations 17 to 22 and Schedules 2 and 3.
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1972	1972/1865	Regulation 6.
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1973	S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1973 No. 490	Regulations 18 to 23 and Schedule 2 and 3.
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1975	1975/1089	The whole instrument.
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1976	1976/2180	Regulation 2(6), (8) and (9).
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1984	1984/814	The whole instrument.

Regulation 10

SCHEDULE 2 U.K. REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION PLATES

[F1 PART A1 U.K. VEHICLES REGISTERED AND NEW REGISTRATION PLATES FITTED ON OR AFTER 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021 (MANDATORY SPECIFICATION)

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 2 Pt. A1 inserted (1.1.2021) by The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1363), regs. 1(2), 7

1.   The plate must be made of retroreflecting material which, as regards its construction, colour and other qualities, complies with the requirements of— U.K.

(a) the British Standard specification for retroreflecting number plates published on 28th February 2018 under number BS AU 145e, or

(b) any other relevant standard or specification recognised for use in an EEA State and which, when in use, offers a performance equivalent to that offered by a plate complying with the British Standard specification,

and which in either case, is marked with the number (or such other information as is necessary to permit identification) of that standard or specification.

2.   Where the registration mark is displayed on the front of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a white background. U.K.

3.   Where the registration mark is displayed on the back of a vehicle, it must have black characters on a yellow background. U.K.

4.   Subject to the paragraphs below, other than the registration mark, no additional markings may be displayed on a registration plate. U.K.

5.   Each plate must display below the registration mark additional markings showing— U.K.

(a) the number of the British standard or other relevant standard or specification as referred to in paragraph 1;

(b) the name of the supplier or manufacturer of the parts used to assemble the registration plate; and

(c) the name and postcode of the supplying outlet of the assembled registration plate displaying the registration mark.

6.   The markings required under paragraph 5 must be— U.K.

(a) permanently marked;

(b) non-retroreflecting;

(c) of a single shade of non-retroreflecting colour; and

(d) no more than 10 millimetres in height and no less than 3 millimetres in height.

7.   The space between the bottom of the registration mark and any other markings must not be less than 7 millimetres. U.K.

8.   A border may be displayed on a registration plate where the border is— U.K.

(a) permanently marked;

(b) non-retroreflecting;

(c) of a single shade of non-retroreflecting colour without any design, pattern or texture;

(d) positioned no closer than 10 millimetres from the edge of any character of the registration mark;

(e) not positioned above any other markings; and

(f) no more than 5 millimetres in width.]

PART 1 U.K. VEHICLES REGISTERED AND NEW REGISTRATION PLATES FITTED ON OR AFTER 1ST SEPTEMBER 2001 [F2 AND BEFORE 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021] (MANDATORY SPECIFICATION)

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Sch. 2 Pt. 1 heading inserted (1.1.2021) by The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1363), regs. 1(2), 8

1.  The plate must be made of retroreflecting material which, as regards its construction, colour and other qualities, complies with the requirements of— U.K.

(a) the British Standard specification for retroreflecting number plates published on 15 January 1998 under number BS AU 145d M1 , or

(b) any other relevant standard or specification recognised for use in an EEA State and which, when in use, offers a performance equivalent to that offered by a plate complying with the British Standard specification,

and which, in either case, is marked with the number (or such other information as is necessary to permit identification) of that standard or specification.

Marginal Citations

M1 Published by the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL. The ISBN number is 0 580 28985 0. Copies may be obtained by post from BSI Customer Services, Sales Department, at the above address or from a BSI sales outlet.

2.  Where the registration mark is displayed on the front of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a white background. U.K.

3.  Where the registration mark is displayed on the back of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a yellow background. U.K.

PART 2 U.K. VEHICLES REGISTERED ON OR AFTER 1ST JANUARY 1973 AND BEFORE 1ST SEPTEMBER 2001 (OPTIONAL SPECIFICATION)

1.  The plate must be made of reflex-reflecting material which, as regards its construction, colour and other qualities, complies with the requirements of— U.K.

(a) the British Standard Specification for reflex-reflecting number plates, published on 11 September 1972 under the number BS AU 145a M2 , or

(b) any other relevant standard or specification recognised for use in an EEA State and which, when in use, offers a performance equivalent to that offered by a plate complying with the British Standard specification,

and which, in either case, is marked with the number (or such other information as is necessary to permit identification) of that standard or specification.

Marginal Citations

M2 Published by the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, being the first revision of the standard first published in 1967. The ISBN number is 0 580 07327 0. Copies may be obtained by post from BSI Customer Services, Sales Department, at the above address or from a BSI sales outlet.

2.  Where the registration mark is displayed on the front of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a white background. U.K.

3.  Where the registration mark is displayed on the back of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a yellow background. U.K.

PART 3 U.K. VEHICLES REGISTERED BEFORE 1ST JANUARY 1973 (OPTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS)

A.  Requirements where the vehicle carries a registration plate which is constructed so that the mark may be illuminated from behind by virtue of the translucency of its characters. U.K.

1.  The registration mark must be formed of white translucent characters on a black background on the surface of that plate. U.K.

2.  When the registration mark is illuminated during the hours of darkness, the characters on that plate must appear white against a black background. U.K.

B.  Requirements where the vehicle carries a registration plate which is not so constructed. U.K.

Either of the following is permitted—

1.  A plate made of reflex-reflecting material complying with the requirements of the British Standard Specification for reflex-reflecting number plates published on 31 October 1967 under the number BS AU 145 M3 and which displays black characters on a white background where it is fixed on the front of the vehicle and black characters on a yellow background where it is fixed on the rear of the vehicle. U.K.

Marginal Citations

M3 Published by the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, the standard having been revised in 1972 to BS AU 145a, as to which see the immediately preceding footnote.

2.  A plate displaying white, silver or light grey letters and numbers on a black surface having every character indelibly inscribed on the surface or so attached to the surface that it cannot readily be detached from it, which may either— U.K.

(a) be made of cast or pressed metal with raised characters, or

(b) consist of a plate to which separate characters are attached, or

(c) consist of a plastic plate having either reverse engraved characters or characters of a foil type, or

(d) consist of an unbroken rectangular area on the surface of the vehicle which is either flat or, if there is no flat area where the mark is required to be displayed, an area which is almost flat.

Regulation 12, 13 and 14

SCHEDULE 3 U.K. LAYOUT OF REGISTRATION MARKS

PART 1 U.K. TABLE A PERMITTED LAYOUTS FOR REGISTRATION MARKS

(1)	(2)
Description of mark	Permitted layouts
1.A group consisting of two letters and two numbers followed by a group of 3 letters (for example DE51 ABC).	Diagrams 1a and 1b.
2.A group consisting of a single letter and not more than 3 numbers followed by a group of 3 letters (for example A123 ABC).	Diagrams 2a, 2b and 2c.
3.A group of 3 letters followed by a group consisting of not more than 3 numbers and a single letter (for example ABC 123A).	Diagrams 3a, 3b and 3c.
4.A group of 4 numbers followed by a single letter or a group of 2 letters (for example 1234 AB, 1234 A).	Diagrams 4a and 4b.
5.A group of not more than 3 numbers followed by a group of not more than 3 letters (for example 123 ABC, 123 AB, 12 A).	Diagrams 5a and 5b.
6.A group of not more than 3 letters followed by a group of not more than 3 numbers (for example ABC 123, AB 123, A 12).	Diagrams 6a and 6b.
7.A single letter or group of 2 letters followed by a group of 4 numbers (for example AB 1234, A 1234).	Diagrams 7a and 7b.
8.A group of 3 letters followed by a group of 4 numbers (for example ABZ 1234, being a form of mark issued only in Northern Ireland).	Diagrams 8a and 8b.
9.A group of 4 numbers followed by a group of 3 letters (for example 1234 ABZ, being a form of mark issued only in Northern Ireland).	Diagrams 9a and 9b.

PART 2 U.K. DIAGRAMS SHOWING PERMITTED LAYOUTS

Diagram 1a

Diagram 1b

Diagram 2a

Diagram 2b

Diagram 2c

Diagram 3a

Diagram 3b

Diagram 3c

Diagram 4a

Diagram 4b

Diagram 5a

Diagram 5b

Diagram 6a

Diagram 6b

Diagram 7a

Diagram 7b

Diagram 8a

Diagram 8b

Diagram 9a

Diagram 9b

PART 3 U.K. TABLE B STROKE AND CHARACTER WIDTH, SPACING AND MARGINS

(1) Relevant dimension	Relevant character height:
	(2) 89 mm.	(3) 79 mm.	(4) 64 mm.
1.Character width (all new registration plates from 1.9.01 except replacement of “classic” plates)		50 mm.	44 mm.
2.Character width (other registration plates)	64 mm.	57 mm.	44 mm.
3.Stroke width	16 mm.	14 mm.	10 mm.
4.Space between two characters within group: general rule	13 mm.	11 mm.	10 mm.
5.Horizontal space between groups	38 mm.	33 mm.	30 mm.
6.Vertical space between groups	19 mm.	19 mm.	13 mm.
7.Minimum margin	13 mm.	11 mm.	11 mm.
8.Pressed/embossed plates fixed before 1.9.01 and “classic” plates: space permitted between “I” or “1” and another character	13 to 37 mm.	11 to 33 mm.
9.Pressed/embossed plates fixed before 1.9.01 and “classic” plates: space permitted between characters if both “I” or “1”	13 to 60 mm.	11 to 54 mm.

Regulation 15(1)

SCHEDULE 4 U.K. PRESCRIBED FONT

PART 1 U.K. FONT DESCRIBED FOR CHARACTERS 79 MILIMETRES IN HEIGHT

PART 2 U.K. FONT PRESCRIBED FOR CHARACTERS 64 MILIMETRES IN HEIGHT