Recently our homologation team of Ian Hopley and Kevin Miller have been incredibly busy working through type approvals post-Brexit.
Ian and Kevin, homologation is a hard enough word to say, let alone spell, but what does it actually mean?
Homologation is the process to grant approval by an official authority. This is to ensure the products meet regulations for things such as safety and environmental impact. The word homologation comes from two Greek words, “homo” meaning the same and “logos” meaning the word or the law. So homologation effectively means making something the same as the law.
Tell us a bit more about what’s had to change with our type approvals due to Brexit.
Historically we have used the EU regulations to type approve our vehicles. It is illegal to sell a car without approval. Complying with the EU regulations allows us to sell unlimited numbers of vehicles, anywhere within the EU. After Brexit our EU type approval prevented us selling in the UK, because it no longer automatically accepts EU approvals, so we have had to apply for “provisional” GB National Type Approvals.
That sounds like a lot of work – why is it a provisional approval?
We have no national type approvals of our own in Great Britain, and Great Britain will no longer accept EU type approval. That is why it’s considered “provisional”, it will need to be swapped for “full” GB National Type Approval, once the UK Government has decided what the requirements will be.
When did we find out we had the provisional approval – that must have been a relief?
Absolutely. It’s been a lot of work to navigate the process and we learned all of the provisional approvals had been approved on New Years’ Day (3 minutes after The Bells)!
The provisional approval is valid for two years, by which time we should have our own British National Type Approvals.
What would have been the consequences of not getting these type approvals?
We simply could not have sold any of our own vehicles to customers or businesses in the UK. So huge implications for the domestic sales of our products. Basically, our only alternative would have been to put every car through an IVA test (and we make too many for that to be feasible), or cease production!
Homologation sounds very complicated!
It really is. It’s also constantly in flux so you have to stay on top of every single element of the approvals.
Thank you Ian and Kevin! If you’d like to join the Allied Vehicles team then click here to look at our current vacancies.
