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 Topic: Are homemade trailers legal now?
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18/2/2012 at 2:23pm
Location: Reading
Outfit: Abbey Freestyle 520L
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i have a DIY one,had it donkeys years. Runs on moggie 1000 rear axle, steel framed wooden body. As long as the lights, tyres etc are legal, then no problems.
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Sue & Bob
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18/2/2012 at 2:40pm
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They are legal as long as they are roadworthy & the lighting complies with regulations(google 'trailer lighting regulations'). Some breakdown insurances state that they will not recover cars towing trailers not of a 'proprietary' make tho. This would be 'covers everything' rule to avoid possibility of recovery driver having to move what he might consider a dangerous vehicle. In practise if the trailer was in good nick I doubt it would be a problem.
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18/2/2012 at 5:53pm
Location: LEICESTER
Outfit: None Entered
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Any of this help?
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/contents/made
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EX Advanced driving observer (IAM)
EX LGV & B+E instructor
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31/8/2016 at 3:11pm
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Nothing has changed. For a small trailer easy way to have legal lighting is to buy a ready made light board & bolt permanently to rear of trailer with cable secured under trailer & shortened to appropriate length, ie a neat & tidy job.
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31/8/2016 at 10:55pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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There must be thousands of home-built trailers around. I used to have a large trailer made out of a modified caravan chassis. It had an extra axle made from indespension units, and could carry 2 tonnes. I took it all over the country behind a transit flatbed truck when I ran a small light-haulage business. I never got stopped with it once.
Unless a trailer is obviously very badly made, and therefore looks dangerous, who is going to stop the driver and ask who made it? If there is a law now banning home-made trailers, I would think it would be almost impossible to enforce. I would say that the police would be far more concerned as to whether it was safe, rather than who built it.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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01/9/2016 at 10:55am
Location: None Entered
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The article below seems to indicate that any trailer even homebuilt ones built after 2012 needs to be tested!
http://www.armitagetrailers.com/trailerlaw.htm
saxo1
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01/9/2016 at 2:08pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 01/9/2016
The article below seems to indicate that any trailer even homebuilt ones built after 2012 needs to be tested!
http://www.armitagetrailers.com/trailerlaw.htm
saxo1
That's probably right, but how is anyone to know? If anyone was stopped, and they said that their home-made trailer was 10 years old, would they have to prove it, or would the authorities have to prove that it was wasn't? In my opinion, trailers are a very grey area. They are not subject to an MOT, nor are they even registered as vehicles. I suspect that the police would only stop a vehicle towing a trailer if they thought the driver was driving recklessly, that the trailer looked dangerous, or the towing vehicle didn't look suitable to tow that trailer. If everything looked ok, and it was being driven responsibly, I very much doubt whether it would concern the officers whether the trailer was home-made or not.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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01/9/2016 at 8:55pm
Location: North Norfolk
Outfit: Bailey Olympus
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I think the article that is being quoted is using a bit of licence in what appears to be an advert for their trailers. As with a lot of goods etc that are "manufactured" to be sold they need to come up to some kind of standard and be tested. This may not apply to someone who makes a trailer for their own use. Hence the line that says,
"As we understand the law, the approval rules also apply to trailers built by a person for his or her own use."
The IVA scheme that is referred to is for manufacturers and importers and as the article correctly states, each trailer is tested. There is also an approval for manufacture of low volume which is design approval and does not require individual testing.
I can't see anywhere on the VCA (gov) web site that mentions trailers built for his or her own use.
In the states they should get all trailers tested, and are given a plate to be fixed to the trailer, but even so some dont bother.
I think it will come, some time after MOTs for caravans and clarity on towing "A" frames.
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Just saying
If all is not lost where is it then?
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02/9/2016 at 7:27pm
Location: Rushden Northants
Outfit: Mercedes 614D Conversion
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We are building another trailer, it will be subject to the IVA process and have a full inspection at a VOSA Test Centre. It's not a difficult process but you do have to have everything documented, brakes, coupling, braking calculations, lights, tyres etc etc.
All that documentation has to be brought together for the IVA test and inspection, so you can't use non-EC compliant lights for example, they have to be EC marked and listed in the approved list.
October 2012 is the cut-off date for self build, prior to that it doesn't need testing, as per our 2011 trailer.
You can modify or rebuild a trailer built prior to the cut-off date and not require testing.
For those who like to dodge the regulations, remember that you are fully liable for any accidents caused by your vehicle, and additionally you would be prosecuted for having a vehicle on the road which was not type tested.
I have email correspondence from VOSA on this subject.
Peter
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