Recreational Craft Directive
94/25/EC as amended
What is the Recreational Craft Directive?
The Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) 94/25/EC as amended by
2004/44/EC details the requirements and modules that manufacturers
of recreational craft must comply with. All craft and components
covered by the Directive must comply with its requirements and bear
the CE marking if required by Article 10 of the Directive.
The CE marking signifies that a manufacturer has declared that a
product conforms to the requirements of the Directive (and any
other Directives that may apply to it), and is safe for use. The CE
mark alone is not a quality mark.
What does the Directive cover?
The Directive, under Annex I.A, covers all boats (regardless of
the means of propulsion) with hull lengths between 2.5 and 24
metres, which are intended for sport and leisure purposes. This
includes partly completed boats. It also covers craft used for
charter or recreational boat training when they are placed on the
market or brought into service for recreational purposes.
In addition propulsion engine exhaust emission requirements and
noise requirements are covered under Annexes I.B and I.C,
respectively.
The following components for recreational craft are covered
under Annex II:
- Ignition-protected equipment for inboard and stern drive
engines.
- Start-in-gear protection devices for outboard engines.
- Steering wheels, steering mechanisms and cable assemblies.
- Fuel tanks and fuel hoses.
- Prefabricated hatches and portlights.
For information on what is not covered by the Directive please
see Article 1 of the amending Directive 2003/44/EC.
Demonstrating compliance
Dependent on the
product category of your craft or component, you can use one of a
number of modules to demonstrate compliance with the Recreational
Craft Directive. The applicable modules are also dependent on the
Boat Design Category and the hull length. The modules are:
A - Internal Production Control
Aa - Internal Production Control plus Tests
B - EC Type Examination
C - Conformity to Type
D - Production Quality Assurance
E Product Quality Assurance
F - Product Verification
G - Unit Verification
H - Full Quality Assurance
For more information about the different modules and
combinations that may apply, please see our Recreational Craft
Directive: Modules page.
Our services
Certification
LRQA GmbH is an EU notified body for modules Aa, B, D, E, F, G and
H. This enables us to undertake EC Type Examinations and audit
quality systems used for design, production and final product
inspection and testing.
What next?
You can find the full text of the Recreational Craft Directive,
and interpretation comments from the Recreational Craft Sector
Group of notified bodies at
www.rsg.be.
In addition a Lloyds Register initiative with the publishing
house Beuth Verlag, a subsidiary of DIN (the German institute for
standardization), has lead to the creation of a CD containing
copies of all harmonised small craft standards and this can be
ordered from http://www.beuth.de/index_en.php.
For further information please contact:
RCD Department, Yacht Services Bremen
Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance GmbH
Am Wall 187-189
28195 Bremen, Germany
E-Mail:
yacht-services@lr.org
If you would like to progress your enquiry further please choose
one of the following: