I thought this Wiki would help as I couldn't find anything easily in this area, or on the web at large...
So, you've built the car, it runs, your happy as can be but there's one big issue - you can't actually drive it on the roads yet; you need to do a few things first.
What I really want here is a to-do style check list that will let me take a finished kit and drive it on the roads legally. I hope it will help others in this area, and I'm sure it will be quick to make as people on here have done this sort of thing lots of times before.
As far as I know, you need to get it through SVA (Single Vehicle Approval). Once you have this, you can get a number plate and with a number plate, you can get a vehicle license (road tax) for it and insure it to be driven.
However, I'm not 100% sure that is the order, or what the law around it all is...
You need to get the car to the SVA centre; can you drive it there, considering it is not yet road legal?
If it fails SVA can you drive it home/to a garage?
If it passes SVA, can you drive back without plates?
Can somebody please sort this wiki page out with the needed knowledge?
This will be a grey area that just goes round and round as the DVLA and VOSA keep moving the goal posts.
You may also find that people will post who have only one cars experience of this proceedure, and the info they have may be old and not be how it is supposed to work.
The rules for driving an unregistered vehicle to/from an SVA are exactly the same as the rules for driving a vehicle to/from any other required goverment test. So long as the test is required by the goverment and you have valid 3rd party liability insurance you may drive to/from the test.
You can drive an unregistered car TO and FROM an SVA test if it is for a pre booked appointment and you have road risk insurance in place. You can drive it to/from any other test REQUIRED to get it registered. An MOT is NOT required to register a car and therefore you CANNOT drive an unregistered vehicle to an MOT. At an MOT or SVA you can be issued with a prohibition notice which means you cannot drive the car back from the test, or to a retest. Once issued with a prohibition notice you cannot drive the car on the road at all under any circumstances until the notice is lifted.
Please clear up which one it is (or clarify why they are different)...
You CAN drive it to the registration office for a build up inspection because this is required to get the vehicle registered (though some DVLA offices will visit you instead). You can also drive directly to a garage to carry out repairs following an SVA or MOT failure. You must also have a prebooked appointment at the garage. You must fail the MOT/SVA test first. Simply knowing that the vehicle will fail on an item is not enough.
OR?
You CANNOT drive to/from the registration office to actually register the vehicle. There is no requirement for the vehicle to be there.
You cannot drive it to the registration office under trade plates - although this may be possible if the vehicle is to be registered a trade vehicle.
You DO NOT need to have an MOT on a kit car that has just passed its SVA in order to get it registered, It will not need an MOT for either 1 or 3 years depending on the registration status.
Link to DoT SVA information pages
Link to IVA manual
Order of Battle (without a trailer to tow the car with):
So, you've built the car, it runs, your happy as can be but there's one big issue - you can't actually drive it on the roads yet; you need to do a few things first.
What I really want here is a to-do style check list that will let me take a finished kit and drive it on the roads legally. I hope it will help others in this area, and I'm sure it will be quick to make as people on here have done this sort of thing lots of times before.
As far as I know, you need to get it through SVA (Single Vehicle Approval). Once you have this, you can get a number plate and with a number plate, you can get a vehicle license (road tax) for it and insure it to be driven.
However, I'm not 100% sure that is the order, or what the law around it all is...
You need to get the car to the SVA centre; can you drive it there, considering it is not yet road legal?
If it fails SVA can you drive it home/to a garage?
If it passes SVA, can you drive back without plates?
Can somebody please sort this wiki page out with the needed knowledge?
This will be a grey area that just goes round and round as the DVLA and VOSA keep moving the goal posts.
You may also find that people will post who have only one cars experience of this proceedure, and the info they have may be old and not be how it is supposed to work.
The rules for driving an unregistered vehicle to/from an SVA are exactly the same as the rules for driving a vehicle to/from any other required goverment test. So long as the test is required by the goverment and you have valid 3rd party liability insurance you may drive to/from the test.
You can drive an unregistered car TO and FROM an SVA test if it is for a pre booked appointment and you have road risk insurance in place. You can drive it to/from any other test REQUIRED to get it registered. An MOT is NOT required to register a car and therefore you CANNOT drive an unregistered vehicle to an MOT. At an MOT or SVA you can be issued with a prohibition notice which means you cannot drive the car back from the test, or to a retest. Once issued with a prohibition notice you cannot drive the car on the road at all under any circumstances until the notice is lifted.
Please clear up which one it is (or clarify why they are different)...
You CAN drive it to the registration office for a build up inspection because this is required to get the vehicle registered (though some DVLA offices will visit you instead). You can also drive directly to a garage to carry out repairs following an SVA or MOT failure. You must also have a prebooked appointment at the garage. You must fail the MOT/SVA test first. Simply knowing that the vehicle will fail on an item is not enough.
OR?
You CANNOT drive to/from the registration office to actually register the vehicle. There is no requirement for the vehicle to be there.
You cannot drive it to the registration office under trade plates - although this may be possible if the vehicle is to be registered a trade vehicle.
You DO NOT need to have an MOT on a kit car that has just passed its SVA in order to get it registered, It will not need an MOT for either 1 or 3 years depending on the registration status.
Link to DoT SVA information pages
Link to IVA manual
Order of Battle (without a trailer to tow the car with):
- Get the car running and ready for testing.
- Get the car insured to drive on the roads.
- Get SVA test appointment for the car.
- You may want a pre-SVA check from the suppliers of the kit, or a specialist in this area.
- Go to the SVA centre and have the test.
- Unless you get a prohibition order on the car, drive it back.
- If you passed, get it registered to get a new V5 & vehicle license number (plates).
- Use the V5 to get a car license disc (road tax).
- Update your insurance policy with the new car details.
- Go and have a blast