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BSS due mid refit - what do do


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I've just had an email that Juno's safely certificate expires Mid-February, I had forgotten the exact timing, thought it was June.

 

On the expiry date we will be mid gas-refit  and there will be no ceiling and wires that should lead to lights but don't. Do I:

 

Bodge a solution that will pass in December - no gas, take the cables away OR

 

Have no safely certificate for a month or two whilst the work is completed?

 

Any suggestions welcome! Thanks 

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Is it in the water? Is it currently licensed? CaRT will have issues without a certificate. Worth checking with the insurance company too as there may be a clause that says it must have a BSS.

BSS inspects what is there. If there is no gas cylinder installed, then the system cannot be checked for pressure integrity by either manometer, or bubble tester. Nor can flame patterns and so on. Similarly, with the electrics. Remove the batteries at the time, or remove fuses, or otherwise disable circuits that are being worked on.

Had a similar thing on a friends boat. It was being refitted in the water and needed a BSS for a CaRT license. There was a very simple, but compliant electrical system to operate the engine and provide a few lights. No gas, no heating. The inspector just looked at what was actually there.

A good idea to get it tested again once complete.

Jen

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Thanks for all the observations 

 

There is no gas at present and hasn't been for 8 years 

 

Boat is afloat and licensed until end November 2022 as I've just renewed the licence. It isn't actually on CRT waters but on a private canal connected to the Kennet and Avon

 

Insurance runs to next August. In January I shall pay for another 12 months mooring 

 

Refit should be finished end of March so I can go boating. 

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8 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks for all the observations 

 

There is no gas at present and hasn't been for 8 years 

 

Boat is afloat and licensed until end November 2022 as I've just renewed the licence. It isn't actually on CRT waters but on a private canal connected to the Kennet and Avon

 

Insurance runs to next August. In January I shall pay for another 12 months mooring 

 

Refit should be finished end of March so I can go boating. 

So you will have a month without a BSS that nobody "needs" to know about.

 

If you are the cautious type, you could tell your insurers, and they would probably keep you insured but place some restrictions on what you can do.

 

If your mooring owner finds out and takes umbrage, you will have your new BSS before anything drastic happens... or you could tell them what is going on, on the basis of "what are they going to do for the sake of a month"

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2 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks for all the observations 

 

There is no gas at present and hasn't been for 8 years 

 

Boat is afloat and licensed until end November 2022 as I've just renewed the licence. It isn't actually on CRT waters but on a private canal connected to the Kennet and Avon

 

Insurance runs to next August. In January I shall pay for another 12 months mooring 

 

Refit should be finished end of March so I can go boating. 

Sounds like  you could have declared the boat off water and saved paying a C&RT license for a few months? 

In the circumstances you describe I suggest do nothing and if challenged by C&RT declare the boat off water and get a license refund.

I went a few months without BSS and nothing bad happened ........my boat was on private water and declared off water.

 

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If it's on a private canal, does it need a BSS

There's no reason to get it retested after the refit, either. The BSS, as said above, and like a car's MOT, reflects how it is on the day. You don't get a new MOT when you change the tyres, nor a new BSS if you change the stove.

And, as everyone knows, it's largely a bureaucratic con and a total waste of money.

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4 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

You don't get a new MOT when you change the tyres, nor a new BSS if you change the stove.

 

 

But maybe you should do if you have any work done to 'stuff' that is checked during the BSS examination (Gas, fuel, electrics particularly)

 

Read the small print on your BSS.

 

Many owners believe that their BSSC is valid for four years and, by doing what the majority of boat owners do in the form of alterations/improvements to their craft, they sometimes (unknowingly) invalidate their BSSC because they do not realise that such actions may contravene the BSSC 'terms and conditions' which are to be found on the rear of the 'old' (pre 1st April 2013) Certificate and which clearly state:

The validity of this certificate may be affected and can be cancelled if the vessel is not properly maintained and/or alterations are made ...

For BSSC's awarded after 1st April 2013, a revised set of terms and conditions entitled ‘About the BSS Examination and its Limitations’ is issued to the owner in either hard copy format or emailed as a .pdf document and these state:

Revised terms

The owner’s on-going responsibility: it is crucial to maintain the vessel in good condition in accordance with the safety requirements; and, any other licensing, registration or mooring conditions of the relevant navigation or harbour authority. The validity of a BSS pass result may be affected and can be cancelled if the vessel is not properly maintained; and/or non-compliant alterations are made....

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21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

If it's on a private canal, does it need a BSS

There's no reason to get it retested after the refit, either. The BSS, as said above, and like a car's MOT, reflects how it is on the day. You don't get a new MOT when you change the tyres, nor a new BSS if you change the stove.

And, as everyone knows, it's largely a bureaucratic con and a total waste of money.

I think a full refit or a major alteration would strictly speaking require fresh BSS. But no one would be the wiser if this was disregarded.

 

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In one of my clarevoyant moments I inspected your so-called incomplete gas works and discovered that they are not gas works at all but a rather fine contemporary art-work just needing a few lines of poetry and a very expensive price tag to complete it.  Make sure that your BSS inpector is sufficiently sophisticated to understand the finer points of works of art.  

  • Haha 2
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46 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

except that the current BSS runs out in Feb?

Not if it gets tested before then.

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

But maybe you should do if you have any work done to 'stuff' that is checked during the BSS examination (Gas, fuel, electrics particularly)

 

Read the small print on your BSS.

 

Many owners believe that their BSSC is valid for four years and, by doing what the majority of boat owners do in the form of alterations/improvements to their craft, they sometimes (unknowingly) invalidate their BSSC because they do not realise that such actions may contravene the BSSC 'terms and conditions' which are to be found on the rear of the 'old' (pre 1st April 2013) Certificate and which clearly state:

The validity of this certificate may be affected and can be cancelled if the vessel is not properly maintained and/or alterations are made ...

For BSSC's awarded after 1st April 2013, a revised set of terms and conditions entitled ‘About the BSS Examination and its Limitations’ is issued to the owner in either hard copy format or emailed as a .pdf document and these state:

Revised terms

The owner’s on-going responsibility: it is crucial to maintain the vessel in good condition in accordance with the safety requirements; and, any other licensing, registration or mooring conditions of the relevant navigation or harbour authority. The validity of a BSS pass result may be affected and can be cancelled if the vessel is not properly maintained; and/or non-compliant alterations are made....

So if it's being properly maintained, annd no noncompliant alterations have been made, no retest is required. And a test cannot be cancelled, because how can it be if it's not inspected?

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I was in this situation when we lengthened Parglena

Licence due in January which I renewed

BSS ran out in March

I did nothing about it

Works finished September so then I got new BSS.

Maybe harder now with computers actually talking to each other ;)

 

 

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

I suspect CRT only (normally) check if you have a valid BSC when you apply for a licence. Same with insurance. So if the dates fall that way you could get away with having no BSC or insurance for almost a year.

There's no reason for them to check at any other time. You're not "getting away" with anything, really. If not having one invalidates your insurance, so what? Be interesting to know how many people here have ever made an insurance claim.

The BSC is worthless as far as safety is concerned  and insurance should be a matter of personal choice, though you can make an argument for 3rd party.

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If using the C&RT online payment method the BSC expiry date is already there on the account.

Insurance you have to enter each year when you have the new details. I believe C&RT do random checks on insurance.

 

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

........insurance should be a matter of personal choice, though you can make an argument for 3rd party.

I don't agree . Insurance is mandatory and that is exactly as it should be.

3rd party insurance is all that is required by C&RT which I understand is low cost . 

 

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Thanks for more deliberation and ideas

 

Boats at my mooring are supposed to be licensed, however when the odd one isn't the owner has said that if CRT push it the boat will simply be moved out onto the main canal where it will become CRTs headache. 

 

I am thinking more of having the paperwork correct - I would expect any work done to be capable of passing the BSS but hadn't expected to be wrongfooted like this. Bottom line is there must be a valid* BSS in August for insurance and next November for licence, I guess it might be easier to get one now knowing I've filled the tick box then I've four years to sort out any issues or deal with delays if disaster befalls the gas fitter and he can't complete the work. 

 

* edited to add - I probably mean "current" rather than "valid"

 

@system 4-50, are you qualified as an art critic? If so could you appraise my latest instalation titled "absent pipework and incomplete wiring" 😉

Edited by magpie patrick
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