Article 4Responsibilities of applicants
1.
Without prejudice to the timeframe allowed for the assessment set out in Article 6, the applicant shall submit the application for a single safety certificate, or for the update or renewal of such a certificate, through the one-stop shop before the following dates, as appropriate:
(a)
the planned start date of any new rail transport operation;
(b)
the planned start date of a rail transport operation under conditions other than those laid down in the current single safety certificate, following a substantial change made to the type, extent or area of operation;
(c)
the expiry date of the current single safety certificate.
2.
When submitting an application for a new single safety certificate, the applicant shall provide the information listed in Annex I.
3.
When submitting an application for the update or renewal of a single safety certificate, the applicant shall provide the information listed in Annex I and describe changes made since the current certificate was issued.
If major non-compliances, which may affect safety performance or create serious safety risks, or any other areas of concern are identified during supervision activities since the previous assessment, the safety certification body and the national safety authorities concerned with the intended area of operation shall decide whether the whole application file needs to be re-assessed.
4.
The selection of the safety certification body made by the applicant shall be binding until the safety assessment process is completed or terminated.
5.
When the applicant requests pre-engagement, it shall submit the information listed in points 1 to 6 of Annex I through the one-stop shop.
6.
Where the submitted file contains copies of documents issued by entities other than the safety certification body, the applicant shall keep the originals for at least 5 years after the end of the period of validity of the single safety certificate. In the case of renewal or update, the applicant shall keep the originals of documents submitted for that application and issued by entities other than the safety certification body for at least 5 years after the end of the period of validity of the renewed or updated single safety certificate. The applicant shall make available those original documents at the request of the Agency or the national safety authorities.