Confused: licences/insurance/BSS

[Leni]

Welcome to the forum

 

If the boat is out of the water and not on BW land, it does not need a licence.

 

Sorry, I should have said the boat has *been* out of the water for 7 years. She's now afloat again (on the Grand Union near Nash Mills) while my son and his mate work on her. They have got the engine running - not bad after 7 years! - and have re-lined the water tank and gas locker. They've also replaced the wood-burning stove and the batteries, which obviously were flat as pancakes, and are at present working out which other areas needed priority treatment to get her fit to pass the BSS.

 

So yes, she *is* back in BW water and does need a licence! It's just the problem of getting the BSS certificate first, and then a new licence after a long break that's worrying me. Do we have any period of grace, or what are we supposed to do in these circumstances?

 

Your advice is much appreciated.

 

Leni :-)

[bottle]

Get a BSS to state of build. Then licence it.

 

The problem will be any item that needs to comply with BSS and is on board and fails will mean it cannot be licensed.

 

You are in a bit of a catch 22 position.

 

To know what is required for a BSS go here: http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/site/2ndedBSSEssentialGuide_212.asp

 

Licences run from the first of the month.

 

Go here: http://www.britishwa...o.uk/license-it .

 

You could always ring BW, they are very helpful, if you can get through.

Edited October 24, 2011 by bottle

[ditchcrawler]

Sorry, I should have said the boat has *been* out of the water for 7 years. She's now afloat again (on the Grand Union near Nash Mills) while my son and his mate work on her. They have got the engine running - not bad after 7 years! - and have re-lined the water tank and gas locker. They've also replaced the wood-burning stove and the batteries, which obviously were flat as pancakes, and are at present working out which other areas needed priority treatment to get her fit to pass the BSS.

 

So yes, she *is* back in BW water and does need a licence! It's just the problem of getting the BSS certificate first, and then a new licence after a long break that's worrying me. Do we have any period of grace, or what are we supposed to do in these circumstances?

 

Your advice is much appreciated.

 

Leni :-)

You are supposed to have a BSS, Licence and insurance before you put it in the water unless its on "trade plates" My understanding of "Trade Plates" is that they are much cheaper than a full licence and you do not have to be a company to get them, but that is only hear say.

[Leni]

Get a BSS to state of build. Then licence it.

 

The problem will be any item that needs to comply with BSS and is on board and fails will mean it cannot be licensed.

 

You are in a bit of a catch 22 position.

 

To know what is required for a BSS go here: http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/site/2ndedBSSEssentialGuide_212.asp

 

Licences run from the first of the month.

 

Go here: http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it .

 

Thanks, bottle. You are right about the Catch 22 situation! There are quite a few items on board which currently will fail a BSS, which is why we are working as fast as we can to sort them. We've got a copy of the guide, but the problem is the number of hours in a day - there just aren't enough! And winter isn't the time to be starting this, as someone pointed out earlier in this thread :-/

 

Oh well! I guess we just work like navvies (how appropriate! ;-D ) and hope to get it ready for BSS inspection ASAP.

 

Many thanks again.

 

Leni :-)

 

Just noticed your post, Ditchcrawler. I will look into 'Trade plates' - sounds like a useful idea, if such a thing exists! Thanks :-)

Edited October 24, 2011 by Leni

[bottle]

I think probably your best way forward would be to get the boat out of the water.

 

I do not want to be alarmist but BW do have the right to remove any unlicensed boat and either destroy or sell it.

 

Good luck.

[Leni]

I think probably your best way forward would be to get the boat out of the water.

 

I do not want to be alarmist but BW do have the right to remove any unlicensed boat and either destroy or sell it.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks. It just cost us not far short of £3000 to have it put back *in* the water, so taking it out again is not exactly an option!

 

Leni

[ditchcrawler]

Thanks. It just cost us not far short of £3000 to have it put back *in* the water, so taking it out again is not exactly an option!

 

Leni

If you don't have a licence it may be your ONLY option unless you can get it licensed before BW can take proceedings against you. If you have a ticket from BW already they will be on your case.

Depending on what state you are in at the moment and what needs doing, i.e. gas system, if it needs major work it may be easier to remove it and get the BSS. You only have to comply with what's there, so that could be fuel, electrics, engine.

[KevMc]

Thanks. It just cost us not far short of £3000 to have it put back *in* the water, so taking it out again is not exactly an option!

 

Leni

 

My experience of BW has always been quite positive (I know I must be the lucky one) ..... I'd recommend giving them a call, be pleasant, say you want to be legal and I bet they will do as much as they can to help you - good luck

[David Mack]

My experience of BW has always been quite positive (I know I must be the lucky one) ..... I'd recommend giving them a call, be pleasant, say you want to be legal and I bet they will do as much as they can to help you - good luck

I've come across other boaters who have have had to have work done on boats on BW waters to get them through the BSS so they could be licenced. BW are generally reasonably accommodating providing you are clearly taking steps to regularise the position.

 

But I have to say I do think you have been foolish spending that much money to put the boat in the water without checking the position first. The information is all there on Waterscape.

 

David

[Leni]

Thanks, Kev. I think you are right that BW are likely to be helpful. They are aware that we are working as fast as we can to get the boat legal - a legality which will require us to give them large sums of money on a regular basis. I see no reason why they would want to take away and destroy a boat in those circumstances!

 

As for the 'foolishness' of spending nearly £3000 to get the boat back in the water; the boat was in a storage facility, the rent for which would very quickly have used up the funds which we hoped to spend on putting her in order. She was bought far from where my son lives, so there was no option but to get her out of storage - which required a very large (and expensive!) crane, because in the 7 years she had been in the storage yard many other containers had been placed around her, making access very difficult - and a long journey to where he would be able to work on her. The marina where she was re-floated wanted us to get her out as quickly as possible, or pay them large sums of money. I felt we had no option but to get her back in the water and set about getting her legal as soon as possible.

 

I posted about it here because I wondered if someone was aware of any sort of interim licensing scheme, or what sort of leeway BW allow in this sort of 'catch 22' situation. In fact my son has spoken to a BW official BSS examiner about getting the CofC, and has explained this to them so BW are aware of the situation and it seems they are sympathetic.

 

Thanks again for your comments.

 

Leni

Edited October 25, 2011 by Leni