Number Plate Query

[ca092003]

A mate has just bought some bog standard plates off www.fancyplates.com

He has heard that by law the name of the company who printed them has to be on the plate. His new plates just has the registration on and absolutely nothing else.

His car is an 03 reg and the registrationm is properly spaced. Are they legal?

Thanks

[fish]

Sorry to disapoint. The plates are "technically" illegal as they must bare the BS number and the manufacturer. The plates that fancyplates do though are correct bar these minor details and you shouldn't have any problems. Mine are the same..

[sadako]

I'm in the market for new plates, Fancyplates are £15 a piece, Halfwits are £12. All I am after are some legal plates, no border, plain type. They will be trimmed to the legal specification, no more ,no less.

[g_attrill]

fish said:

Sorry to disapoint. The plates are "technically" illegal as they must bare the BS number and the manufacturer. The plates that fancyplates do though are correct bar these minor details and you shouldn't have any problems. Mine are the same..

There is an exemption for plates produced for fleet or use within a company, or plates produced by the owner, so how can they prove that it wasn't produced in any of those circumstances? Therefore I reckon it would only enforceable against the *company* producing the plates without them.

Gareth

>> Edited by g_attrill on Saturday 19th February 21:09

[ca092003]

Any chance of a comment from a TrafPol? Should my mate get a new set sorted?

[Dwight VanDriver]

Only thing I can find under RV(Display of Registration Marks) Regs 2002, Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001 and Vehicles Crime (Registration of Registration Plate Suppliers)(England and Wales) Regs 2002 on what you ask CA is that there has to to be the BS mark. Cannot find anything that the name of the supplier HAS TO be on the plate. If this was a requirement then it should have been mentioned inPart 1 Schedule 2 of RV(DofRM)Regs 2002 which covers requirements of the plate.

Of the examples shown for that firm I suspect only 4 (Classics)and 10 are legal plates.

If your friends plate follows the design of example 10 (with or without GB/UK flag)then it will pass scrutinity of SCP cameras/ANPR etc. Without any prior knowledge what Bib is going to dirty his knees examing the plate to find the BS mark?

DVD

[Bluementhol]

The British Standard also requires that a number plate must be marked with the following information: -

..........The name and postcode of the supplying outlet. (The 'supplying outlet' is taken to mean a company whose business consists wholly or partly of selling number plates.)..........


So looking at that the law says that you only need the British Standard mark not the manufacturers address, however you can't have a British Standard mark unless you have the manufacturers name on it.

[edc]

These new regulations only came into force on a particular date?

So those with cars old enough can 'get away' with it?

[Dwight VanDriver]

Quite right Blue Menthol. Thought about this after posting and wondered how one would trace who issued the plate other than by word of mouth from the owner/driver an essential requirement I would have thought.

More digging and as you say its all tied up in British Standard AU 145d:

The British Standard also requires that a number plate must be marked with the following information:

The British Standard Number (currently BS AU 145d)

The name, trade mark, or other means of identification of the manufacturer or component supplier.

The name and postcode of the supplying outlet


A non-reflective border and the Euro-symbol with the national identification letters are optional additions.

There shall be no other markings or material contained on the number plate.

So I presume if it doesn't comply then it isn't a number plate so fail to display/

Wonder why they didn't enforce this in the Regs?

DVD

[james_j]

I suppose to get around this potential problem, it would be just a matter of getting Fancyplates to put the BS number at the bottom.

[Bluementhol]

But even if you got Fancyplates to mark it up as BS AU 145D, I'll bet they're not officially registered numberplate suppliers. So it doesn't conform to the British Standard.