Plans for a 57ft narrowboat

[Tacet]

3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But the RCR DOES require you to meet the same standards as that given by the ISO specs, and, if you use 'other means' you are required to have the boat tested and certified that it does achieve those same levels of protection.

Fair dos if that's the case - but where is that set out in the RCR, please?  https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/737/schedule/1

 

My reading is that Regulation 6 require one to meet the Essential Standards, which are in Schedule 1, and say nothing specific, for example, about not using the hull as an electrical return.

 

Regulation 41 relates to a rebuttable presumption in favour of conformity if harmonised standards are met.   At this point it becomes more confusing but I could quite accept that these standards are now ISO.  I've found a 2022 Department of Business etc informative that relates to the RCR and schedules ISOs.  It refers to Regulation 2A which is an RCR amendment that has yet to be incorporated into the published body on OPSI, which doesn't help.one follow the trail.

 

But what I can't find is something that says that meeting the Essential Requirements is not enough to satisfy the RCR.  I can quite accept that the ISOs are bigger and better - and that one might be wise to adopt the same. But where is the provision that says one must meet the ISOs or have the boat tested and certified that it achieves the same level of protection?

 

Chapter and verse would be good - not a link to some generalisation on the web.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

58 minutes ago, Tacet said:

Chapter and verse would be good - not a link to some generalisation on the web.

 

I'll try and find something to link to.

[David Mack]

4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But the RCR DOES require you to meet the same standards as that given by the ISO specs, and, if you use 'other means' you are required to have the boat tested and certified that it does achieve those same levels of protection.

No. The RCR does not require you to meet the ISO standards. All the RCR requires is that you meet its Essential Requirements. British Marine has produced a Code of Practice which is one way of meeting the Essential Requirements, and that CoP does indeed require compliance with a long list of ISO standards. But there is no legal requirement to follow that CoP.

That said, if you are ever called to demonstrate that you have complied, meeting the CoP requirements will generally suffice, whereas you may have an uphill struggle to satisfy the authorities your alternative solution meets the legal minimum - particularly as you are much more likely to find yourself in this position when something has gone wrong.

Edited November 6, 2023 by David Mack
I see @Tacet has already said much the same.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, David Mack said:

No. The RCR does not require you to meet the ISO standards.

 

I did not say it did - I said :

 

But the RCR DOES require you to meet the same standards as that given by the ISO specs, and, if you use 'other means' you are required to have the boat tested and certified that it does achieve those same levels of protection.

 

Meet the same STANDARDS (of safety, installation, whatever) as that provided for by the ISO specifications, which are accepted as automatically achieving the requirements. You may be called on to prove that your chosen method provides at least the same level (eg protection, safety etc) as the specified ISO specification.

 

[David Mack]

28 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I did not say it did - I said :

 

But the RCR DOES require you to meet the same standards as that given by the ISO specs, and, if you use 'other means' you are required to have the boat tested and certified that it does achieve those same levels of protection.

 

Meet the same STANDARDS (of safety, installation, whatever) as that provided for by the ISO specifications, which are accepted as automatically achieving the requirements. You may be called on to prove that your chosen method provides at least the same level (eg protection, safety etc) as the specified ISO specification.

 

Again Alan you are reading things into the Regulations that are not there. Regulation 6 says:

"Essential requirements

6.  A person may only make a product available on the market or put it into service if that product—

(a)complies with the requirements in Schedule 1; and

(b)does not endanger the health and safety of persons, property or the environment when correctly maintained and used in accordance with its intended purpose."

 

There is absolutely nothing in that which requires the use of ISO standards or some demonstrable equivalent.

[Tacet]

40 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I did not say it did - I said :

 

But the RCR DOES require you to meet the same standards as that given by the ISO specs, and, if you use 'other means' you are required to have the boat tested and certified that it does achieve those same levels of protection.

 

Meet the same STANDARDS (of safety, installation, whatever) as that provided for by the ISO specifications, which are accepted as automatically achieving the requirements. You may be called on to prove that your chosen method provides at least the same level (eg protection, safety etc) as the specified ISO specification.

 

I think you can only be brought to book if you don't meet the Essential Requirements, which don't include the two-wire requirement nor the fuel inspection hatch  - which is where we came in.

 

Unless you can point us to a requirement to meet ISO standards or its (rather vague) equivalent?

[enigmatic]

On 05/11/2023 at 12:08, Black Bull said:

I have been looking for a narrowboat that has what i need but cant find so I Think i will make one I work in a fabrication business so every thing is available

and the space to build There are lots of different designs I am not sure which to go for My only other concern will be how much ballast will i need Will this be advised by the Drawing design guy Also dont want a very deep draft 

 

1) The Fit Out Pontoon used to offer independent advice on boat designs (now they sell boats too). Mostly they seem to sell internal layout plans to people that just want a boat that looks pretty inside, but they must have worked with fabrication drawings too https://www.thefitoutpontoon.co.uk

 

2) Consider buying an existing boat and using your fabrication skills to modify it. Putting in hatches, different windows, fancy decorative steelwork touches etc on a boat that's already built back when steel was cheaper can work out quicker and cheaper than fabricating an entire hull and starting the interior from scratch.

 

3) There's always more interior stuff that needs doing than you think. Lots of people buy fabricated metal shells to DIY the interior; some of them end up with boats they can actually use couple of years later!