is now legally an ‘importer’ The importer must, when appropriate and taking into account the risks to the health and safety of consumers, carry out testing of the products and investigate complaints about products that are not in conformity with the 2017 Regulations and keep a register of those complaints. The importer must take action where they have reason to believe that products that they have placed on the GB market are not in conformity with the 2017 Regulations. Where they are considered to present a risk to consumers then the importer is required to inform the MSA (Trading Standards in GB).
In regard to part completed Vessels - Only fully manufactured products can be considered placed on the market. Under these circumstances, the GB manufacturer of the finished product has the sole and ultimate responsibility for ensuring it is compliant before they place it on the GB market.
This means that if a vessel is supplied without engines fitted for example (quite common with outboard installations), then the company installing the engines and therefore completing the build of the vessel now takes on the responsibility of First placing of the Vessel on the Market and therefore the compliance of the vessel.
Repair, replacement and maintenance operations are often carried out using other products which are spare parts. Spare parts are considered to have been placed on the market at the time at which the original product or system they are ultimately intended to repair, replace or maintain was placed on the market.
This means that spare parts can comply with the same conformity assessment requirements that were in place at the time the original product or system they are ultimately intended to repair, replace or maintain was placed on the market.
This implies that the Spare Parts must comply with the original conformity assessment.
From a brief analysis of the above scenarios, we can draw conclusions.
Boat A was clearly not compliant in several areas, some of which were:
- The CE plate including vessel loading and design category was generic for three completely differing designs based on the same hull and the identification number of the approved body was not included.
- The forward cable locker was open at the bow and the internal/collision bulkhead was not watertight.
- The recessed cockpit drains were inadequate and too close to the water line due to inadequate freeboard.
- The forward facing wheelhouse door did not close or seal securely.
Boat A, having been imported with engines means that the EU manufacturer was responsible in the first instance. However, the importer remains responsible for ensuring it was compliant before they placed it on the GB market and ‘investigate complaints’ and ‘take action’ as necessary.
In the case of Boat B, as the vessel was imported as a completed vessel the manufacturer should ultimately be responsible to rectify the defect as the steering system ‘As Fitted’ does not, and therefore, could never have functioned correctly and therefore safely.
In the final case, the question is one of quality of supplied spares, rather than conformity for which there are consumer protection rules under serviceable goods.
The question remains ‘Who will discover a case of non-compliance?”
Answer ‘The Surveyor’ because vessel safety is, or should be, the surveyor’s primary aim.
In the past, I have been in conflict with dealers and brokers where during a pre-purchase survey a vessel was found to be non-compliant, ie placed on the market in the UK without a hull number, CE Plate, or certificate of compliance. The arguments were always:
- does it need to be compliant? - and ultimately “do you know anyone who has been prosecuted for selling a non-compliant vessel? The answer to which had to be no!
Looking at the penalties section, I note the wording which is a little vague. All surveyors will be familiar with the use of ‘May’, ‘Should’, ‘Could’ (Can) and that seldom do we see the word ‘Must’ in government department regulations.
In the new Regulations it states that you may be liable to a penalty and that penalties can include a fine, or prison sentence, which is a matter for the enforcing authority to decide and that should a prosecution take place it is at the discretion of the courts to decide the penalty.
However, having said that, from personal experience in regard to cheap imported replacement parts and equipment used in vessels, the MSA (Trading Standards) and OPSS can have them impounded and subsequently removed from the market.
Perhaps the government is asking too much of Manufacturers and Importers, lets face it they are hardly likely to say “don’t buy one of these unless your going out on a nice sunny day with flat calm seas”, known commercially as ‘favourable weather and daylight’.
They could argue that the skipper of the vessel was not competent (this also was implied) however as we all know there is no requirement to prove that you are competent when buying a boat and I am sure that they would not ask anyway (sales would plummet). At the end of the day I doubt whether being a novice or being an expert will make any difference when the coastguard or RNLI turn up to fish you out of the water or tow you to safety.
My final comment therefore is that the manufacturers, importers and suppliers in the scenarios I have shared in this article should do their homework and realise their responsibilities particularly in regard to “taking into account the risks to the health and safety of consumers” and ultimately because failing to give customer satisfaction may not just be totally unacceptable, it may also be in breach of the law.
THE REPORT | MAR 2026 | ISSUE 115 | 71
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