What is a Certificate of Conformity and when is it required?

In most cases when you register a car in Ireland it will already have been granted type approval and therefore already have a certificate of conformity.

When a manufacturer is granted type-approval for a particular vehicle model or variant, the manufacturer issues a certificate of conformity for each vehicle of that model manufactured in conformity with the standards for which it was approved. The certificate of conformity is, in effect, a statement by the manufacturer that the vehicle conforms to the relevant EU type-approval regulations.

All new passenger cars of EU vehicle category M1 (excluding special purpose vehicles) now require European Community Whole Vehicle Type-Approval ECWVTA, or national type-approval in order to be registered in Ireland. EU vehicle category M1 is defined as “Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat”.

If an individual imports a new passenger car that does not have Type-Approval, e.g. one from outside the EU, the car must be presented to the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) for certification before registration can take place.

Additional details relating to the regulations and requirements are available on the Road Safety Authority website at: European Community Whole Vehicle Type-Approval (ECWVTA) and related National Approval Schemes as proposed in Directive 2007/46/EC.

Further details about the NSAI including contact details can be obtained on their website: www.nsai.ie .