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PSV Accessibility Regulations 2000 FAQs

What impact will these regulations have on PSV manufacturers and operators?

Commencing 31 December 2000 certain PSVs will be required to have:

  • accessibility features for wheelchair users such as boarding lifts and ramps, wheelchair spaces, wheelchair restraints, adequate areas of manoeuvrability for wheelchair passengers.

and / or

  • general accessibility features for less able passengers such as priority seats, non sloping and stepless gangways, and colour contrasting stanchions steps and gangways for passengers with poor eyesight.

What PSVs will be affected?

Initially this will apply to those PSVs (buses and coaches):

  • which are authorised to carry more than 22 passengers and
  • which are used for carrying passengers at separate fares on local or scheduled services and
  • first used from 31 December 2000.

What is a bus and what is a coach as far as the accessibility regs are concerned?

A bus is PSV designed for seated and standing passengers and has a capacity of more than 22 passengers.

A coach is a PSV designed for seated passengers only and has a capacity of more than 22 passengers.

What documentation will a PSV need to prove that it complies?

  • A PSV Accessibility Certificate (PSVA 2) issued by a certifying officer

or

  • a PSV Certificate of Conformity (PSVA 5) issued by PSV section.

Will the certificate show whether the PSV complies with either wheelchair accessibility, general accessibility or both?

The certificate will show the appropriate schedule number referred to in the regulations which indicates the level of compliance

  • Schedule 1 = wheelchair accessibility on buses and coaches,
  • Schedule 2 = general accessibility on buses
  • Schedule 3 = general accessibility on coaches

Examples :

  • A bus which complies with both wheelchair and general accessibility requirements will have an accessibility certificate or certificate of conformity showing schedules 1 and 2.
  • A coach which complies with wheelchair and general accessibility will have a certificate showing schedules 1 and 3.
  • A coach which complies only with general accessibility requirements will have a certificate showing schedule 3.

These schedule numbers will be hand written on the certificate by the certifying officer.


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Who is responsible for ensuring a vehicle has an accessibility certificate?

It will be up to the manufacturer / operator to decide whether a vehicle requires an accessibility certificate because only they will know ultimately whether the vehicle falls within the scope of the regulations.

Basically any operator using a vehicle which falls within the scope of the regulations without an accessibility certificate will be contravening the regulations.


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What are the fees for an accessibility certificate inspection?

  • £28 for an individual inspection relating to either wheelchair accessibility or general accessibility.
  • £55 for an individual inspection relating to both wheelchair and general accessibility.
  • £10 for a retest where the applicant has applied for either accessibility or general accessibility.
  • £20 for a retest where the applicant has applied for both wheelchair accessibility and general accessibility.

What are the fees for accessibility type approval?

  • The basic initial fee for type approval is £350 for wheelchair accessibility or general accessibility and £690 for both.
  • The fee for an accessibility certificate of conformity is £15

What is the fee for a duplicate certificate?

The fee for a duplicate accessibility certificate or accessibility certificate of conformity is £10.


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How will manufacturers and operators apply for an accessibility certificate?

The COIF application form (PSV417) has been revised to include an application for an accessibility certificate as well as a COIF. This is so that both COIF and accessibility inspections can be applied for at the same time using the same form.

For those PSVs which have already been certified (or where the COIF applicant has not applied on the PSV 417) a separate application form (PSVA 1) has been introduced. This (PSVA 1) form has been designed to double up as a notifiable alteration form to avoid the need for the applicant to submit a VTP5 on an already certified vehicle.

On both forms there will be spaces for the applicant to indicate whether wheelchair accessibility or general accessibility or both is required.


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How will manufacturers apply for accessibility type approval and how will it work?

The accessibility type approval system will operate along similar lines to the type certification system. A new type approval application form(PSVA 4), certificate of conformity (PSVA 5) and sample declaration (PSVA 6) have been introduced.

When type approval has been agreed with the manufacturer they will be permitted to send in declarations of conformity for each vehicle together with a fee of £15 for an accessibility certificate of conformity. This is much the same as type certification.

What happens if the certifying officer decides after examining the vehicle that the appropriate accessibility requirements are not complied with?

The certifying officer will issue a form PSVA 3 listing the modifications required before an accessibility certificate can be issued.


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How long will the Accessibility certificate or Accessibility Certificate of Conformity last?

This will be the same as a COIF or a type certified conformity certificate. It will last for the life of the vehicle.


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Page last updated: 09/10/2006