The Maritime & Coastguard Agency UK code of practice for intended pleasure vessels in temporary commercial use at sea has come into force


A new code came into force on 1 January 2019 allowing pleasure craft to be in temporary commercial use at sea for a number of defined purposes.


The Intended Pleasure Vessels (IPV) Code, which permits the temporary use of craft at sea for businesses purposes and as race support without the current requirement for inspection, marks a huge step forward for the UK’s leisure marine sector.


Testing, trialling and delivery of sea-going vessels legally will now be cheaper and easier for boatbuilders, brokers, surveyors, repairers, delivery companies and equipment service providers under the exemptions laid out in Part 1 of the new Code. It delivers an easier and clearer way for businesses to comply with regulation and will have resulting, long-term benefits for the end-user.


As the significance of this Code spans the breadth of boating, from manufacturer to boat owner, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) developed it in partnership with the sector’s leading associations and representatives. These include British Marine, Royal Yachting Association (RYA), Yacht Brokers, Designers and Surveyors Association (YBDSA), British Rowing and British Canoeing.


Read the full story and download the code at https://bit.ly/2ST0YhX. The publication of this new code prompted a strong reaction from one IIMS member.


Marine surveyor, Oliver Byles said, “Since last week I’ve been around a few boatyards, brokerages and chewed the fat with a few other surveyors and the general consensus seems to be either that people don’t even know this code exists, or that where they do know it exists and it might apply to them, they are not going to bother with it.


If this code doesn’t really apply to surveyors and mid-survey sea trials, then why on earth is it written in black and white in the MGN?


This appears to be a code of practice from a government agency practice that purports to be underpinned by statute that directly concerns what I do for a living. I do feel a small sense of duty to try and comply with it if I have to. How in God’s green earth are they going to enforce it anyway?


They clearly haven’t bothered to communicate or publicise it prior to it coming into force as hardly anyone I have spoken to seems to know about it!”


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