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Recreational Craft directive

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  Directive

Recreational Craft Directive (2013/53/EU)

  Scope

This Directive shall apply to the following products:

  • Recreational craft and partly completed recreational craft;
  • Personal watercraft and partly completed personal watercraft;
  • Components listed in Annex II when placed on the Union market separately, hereinafter referred to as ‘components’;
  • Propulsion engines which are installed or specifically intended for installation on or in watercraft;
  • Propulsion engines installed on or in watercraft that are subject to a major engine modification;
  • Watercraft that are subject to major craft conversion.

The fact that the same watercraft could also be used for charter or for sports and leisure training shall not prevent it being covered by this Directive when it is placed on the Union market for recreational purposes.

EXCLUSIONS

This Directive shall not apply to the following products:

  • With regard to the design and construction requirements set out in Part A of Annex I:
    • Watercraft intended solely for racing, including rowing racing boats and training rowing boats, labelled as such by the manufacturer;
    • Canoes and kayaks designed to be propelled solely by human power, gondolas and pedalos;
    • Surfboards designed solely to be propelled by wind and to be operated by a person or persons standing;
    • Surfboards;
    • Original historical watercraft and individual replicas thereof designed before 1950, built predominantly with the original materials and labelled as such by the manufacturer;
    • Experimental watercraft, provided that they are not placed on the Union market;
    • Watercraft built for own use, provided that they are not subsequently placed on the Union market during a period of five years from the putting into service of the watercraft;
    • Watercraft specifically intended to be crewed and to carry passengers for commercial purposes, without prejudice to paragraph 3, regardless of the number of passengers;
    • Submersibles;
    • Air cushion vehicles;
    • Hydrofoils;
    • External combustion steam powered watercraft, fuelled by coal, coke, wood, oil or gas;
    • Amphibious vehicles, i.e. wheeled or track-laying motor vehicles, which are able to operate both on water and on solid land;
  • With regard to exhaust emission requirements set out in Part B of Annex I:
    • Propulsion engines installed or specifically intended for installation on the following products:
      • Watercraft intended solely for racing and labelled as such by the manufacturer;
      • Experimental watercraft, provided that they are not placed on the Union market;
      • Watercraft specifically intended to be crewed and to carry passengers for commercial purposes, without prejudice to paragraph 3, regardless of the number of passengers;
      • Submersibles;
      • Air cushion vehicles;
      • Hydrofoils;
      • Amphibious vehicles, i.e. wheeled or track-laying motor vehicles, which are able to operate both on water and on solid land;
    • Original and individual replicas of historical propulsion engines, which are based on a pre-1950 design, not produced in series and fitted on watercraft referred to in points (v) or (vii) of point (a);
    • Propulsion engines built for own use provided that they are not subsequently placed on the Union market during a period of five years from the putting into service of the watercraft;
  • With regard to noise emission requirements referred to in Part C of Annex I:
    • All watercraft referred to in point (b);
    • Watercraft built for own use, provided that they are notsubsequently placed on the Union market during a period of five years from the putting into service of the watercraft.

DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:

  • ‘Watercraft’ means any recreational craft or personal watercraft;
  • ‘Recreational craft’ means any watercraft of any type, excluding personal watercraft, intended for sports and leisure purposes of hull length from 2,5 m to 24 m, regardless of the means of propulsion;
  • ‘Personal watercraft’ means a watercraft intended for sports and leisure purposes of less than 4 m in hull length which uses a propulsion engine having a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing or kneeling on, rather than within the confines of, a hull;
  • ‘Watercraft built for own use’ means a watercraft predominantly built by its future user for his own use;
  • ‘Propulsion engine’ means any spark or compression ignition, internal combustion engine used directly or indirectly for propulsion purposes;
  • ‘Major engine modification’ means the modification of a propulsion engine which could potentially cause the engine to exceed the emission limits set out in Part B of Annex I or increases the rated power of the engine by more than 15 %;
  • ‘Major craft conversion’ means a conversion of a watercraft which changes the means of propulsion of the watercraft, involves a major engine modification, or alters the watercraft to such an extent that it may not meet the applicable essential safety and environmental requirements laid down in this Directive;
  • ‘Means of propulsion’ means the method by which the watercraft is propelled;
  • ‘Engine family’ means the manufacturer's grouping of engines which, through their design, have similar exhaust or noise emission characteristics;
  • ‘Hull length’ means the length of the hull measured in accordance with the harmonised standard;

  Description

The Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) regulates pleasure craft built and used with the European Economic Area (EEA). It applies to all recreational craft between 2.5 and 24 metres in hull length whatever the means of propulsion. Most craft built since 16 June 1998 intended for sport & leisure must meet essential safety requirements if they are to be placed on the EEA market or put into service within the EEA. The first Recreational Craft Directive 94/25/EC which was amended by Directive 2003/44/EC ceased to apply on 18 January 2017. Directive 2013/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on recreational craft and personal watercraft, repealing the old RCD (Directive 94/25/EC) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, on 28 December 2013 and became effective on 17 January 2014. Member states had two years until 18 January 2016 to transpose the Directive into national law. A one year transition period for manufacturers to make any changes to their designs followed. With effect from 18 January 2017 Directive 2013/53/EU has entirely replaced Directives 94/25/EC and 2003/44/EC. The current RCD, Directive 2013/53/EU is sometimes referred to as RCD2 or WCD to differentiate it from its predecessors.

  Harmonised standards

EN ISO 6185-1:2018 Inflatable boats - Part 1: Boats with a maximum motor power rating of 4,5 kW (ISO 6185-1:2001)
EN ISO 6185-2:2018 Inflatable boats - Part 2: Boats with a maximum motor power rating of 4,5 kW to 15 kW inclusive (ISO 6185-2:2001)
EN ISO 6185-3:2018 Inflatable boats - Part 3: Boats with a hull length less than 8 m with a motor rating of 15 kW and greater (ISO 6185-3:2014)
EN ISO 6185-4:2018 Inflatable boats - Part 4: Boats with a hull length of between 8 m and 24 m with a motor power rating of 15 kW and greater (ISO 6185-4:2011, Corrected version 2014-08-01)
EN ISO 7840:2021 Small craft - Fire-resistant fuel hoses (ISO 7840:2021)
EN ISO 8099-1:2018 Small craft - Waste systems - Part 1: Waste water retention (ISO 8099-1:2018)
EN ISO 8099-2:2021 Small craft - Waste systems - Part 2: Sewage treatment systems (ISO 8099-2:2020)
EN ISO 8469:2021 Small craft - Non-fire-resistant fuel hoses (ISO 8469:2021)
EN ISO 8665:2017 Small craft - Marine propulsion reciprocating internal combustion engines - Power measurements and declarations (ISO 8665:2006)
EN ISO 8666:2020 Small craft - Principal data (ISO 8666:2020)
Show all the standards...
EN ISO 6185-1:2018
Inflatable boats - Part 1: Boats with a maximum motor power rating of 4,5 kW (ISO 6185-1:2001)
EN ISO 6185-2:2018
Inflatable boats - Part 2: Boats with a maximum motor power rating of 4,5 kW to 15 kW inclusive (ISO...
EN ISO 6185-3:2018
Inflatable boats - Part 3: Boats with a hull length less than 8 m with a motor rating of 15 kW and g...
EN ISO 6185-4:2018
Inflatable boats - Part 4: Boats with a hull length of between 8 m and 24 m with a motor power ratin...
EN ISO 7840:2021
Small craft - Fire-resistant fuel hoses (ISO 7840:2021)
EN ISO 8099-1:2018
Small craft - Waste systems - Part 1: Waste water retention (ISO 8099-1:2018)
EN ISO 8099-2:2021
Small craft - Waste systems - Part 2: Sewage treatment systems (ISO 8099-2:2020)
EN ISO 8469:2021
Small craft - Non-fire-resistant fuel hoses (ISO 8469:2021)
EN ISO 8665:2017
Small craft - Marine propulsion reciprocating internal combustion engines - Power measurements and d...
EN ISO 8666:2020
Small craft - Principal data (ISO 8666:2020)
Show all the standards...

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