SMMT European and National Type Approval (SENTA) Guide

With the introduction of new European-wide legislation governing every aspect of a vehicle's design and production taking effect from 29 April 2010, vehicle manufacturers are facing one of their biggest challenges of the last 50 years.

If you are involved in the building or part-building of buses, coaches, vans, trucks, trailers and some other special purpose vehicles, such as motor caravans, trailer caravans, ambulances, hearses and wheelchair accessible vehicles, you may be responsible for ensuring that the vehicle you produce meets the standards set out in the European Whole Vehicle Type Approval Directive.

This means you will need to provide a Certificate of Conformity or an Individual Vehicle Approval Certificate with each vehicle produced, as evidence of its compliance. Without this certificate your vehicle cannot be registered or, in the case of trailers, put on the road either in the UK or in the rest of the European Community.

Type and Individual Approval means approving the finished vehicle and not just some of its component parts.

When the legislation applies to your type of vehicle, no approval means no registration!