Tailoring the low volume vehicle certification process to risk

Allowing type certification for commercial modifiers

The NZ Transport Agency would appreciate your feedback on a proposed change to the Low Volume Vehicle (LVV) certification process, which will apply to commercial vehicle modifiers who carry out the same modifications to a number of vehicles (commonly called ‘series production’).  We’re also seeking feedback separately on a proposal for vehicles that have already met appropriate overseas standards, and we released a discussion document on that proposal on 9 September 2016.

Overview

The Transport Agency is proposing some changes to the existing LVV certification process, in order to streamline the process for lower-risk modifications. The proposed changes focus on vehicles that are currently required to undergo individual LVV certification, but are lower risk because:

• they’ve been produced in a commercial, production-based setting with quality controls in place, or
• they’ve already met appropriate overseas standards.

The proposed changes include:  

• providing an alternative way for commercial modifiers to achieve LVV certification for series production-based vehicle modifications (sometimes referred to as ‘type certification’), and
• allowing some imported modified vehicles to be excluded from LVV certification in New Zealand, if they’ve already met appropriate standards overseas.

Our intention is that, once implemented, the proposed changes will make it quicker and easier to get lower-risk modifications certified, creating benefits for commercial modifiers and importers of modified vehicles.