Preparing your boat
Regular maintenance to keep your boat safe and complying with the legal obligations when it is on the water should ensure a first-time pass. However, preparing your boat before its examination will pay off. Apart from checking to see that installations, components and fittings comply with the requirements before the examiner arrives, there are several things you can do to make the whole process run smoothly. All required items must be capable of being checked effectively and accurately. If not, the examination will be considered to be incomplete. An examiner cannot issue a certificate on an incomplete examination, so here are a few points to keep in mind.- Ensure that all the boat's installations and appliances are fully functional so that a complete examination can take place.
- This includes having a fully charged battery and sufficient gas and water, together with any other documentation that shows compliance with the BSS General Requirements.
- If the good condition or suitability of any item cannot be verified where this is a requirement, a certificate cannot be issued.
- Ensure full access to all gas joints and as much pipework as possible for a thorough examination.
- Ensure full access to all gas joints and as much pipework as possible for a thorough examination.
- Items such as gas lockers should be unlocked, and boards and panels removed to give access where verification is necessary.
- Notify any relevant landowners who may have to give access to the examiner so that he can get to your boat's mooring.
- Have the existing certificate to hand. This will help the examiner with information about the boat that he or she must record, such as when it was constructed, and with the confirmation of the expiry date of your current certificate.
All of the Examiner Checking Procedures (ECP's) can be found on the Boat Safety Scheme website - www.boatsafetyscheme.com