The Recreational Craft Regulations 2017

GUIDANCE

A basic guide to The Recreational Craft Regulations 2017. 

Who does it apply to? 

Anyone who manufactures, imports, distributes, or modifies a watercraft or parts of a watercraft: 

“watercraft” means any recreational craft or personal watercraft.

“watercraft built for own use” means any watercraft predominantly built by its future user for that user’s own use.

“recreational craft” means any watercraft of any type, excluding personal watercraft, intended for sports and leisure purposes of hull length from 2.5 metres to 24 metres, regardless of the means of propulsion

What is excluded from the design and construction requirements under the Regulations? 

The design and construction requirements set out in Part A of Schedule 1 do not apply to the following watercraft (Regulation 4): 

(a) watercraft intended solely for racing, including rowing racing boats and training boats, labelled as such by the manufacturer;

(b) canoes and kayaks designed to be propelled solely by human power, gondolas and pedalos;

(c) surfboards designed to be propelled by wind and to be operated by a person or persons standing;

(d) other surfboards;

(e) original historical watercraft and individual replicas thereof designed before 1950 built predominantly with the original materials and labelled as such by the manufacturer;

(f) experimental watercraft, unless they are placed on the market;

(g) watercraft built for their own use provided that such watercraft are not subsequently placed on the EU market for a period of five years beginning with the date on which the watercraft was put into service;

(h) watercraft specifically intended to be crewed and to carry passengers for commercial purposes, except when they fall within regulation 3(2), regardless of the number of passengers;

(i) submersibles;

(j) air-cushion vehicles;

(k) hydrofoils;

(l) external combustion steam-powered watercraft, fuelled by coal, coke, wood, oil or gas;

(m) amphibious vehicles, that is to say, wheeled or track-laying motor vehicles, which are able to operate both on water and on solid land.

Main requirements for distributors

If the product you distribute or modify falls within the Regulations, ensure that the product: 

(a) act with due care to ensure the conformity of that product

(b) complies with the requirements in Schedule 1

(c) does not endanger the health and safety of persons, property or the environment when correctly maintained and used in accordance with its intended purpose

(d) bears the CE marking;

(e) the name and postal address of the notified body that carried out the conformity assessment are marked on the product. 

(f) is accompanied by the required documents;

(g) is accompanied by the instructions and safety information in a language that can be easily understood by consumers and other end-users in the Member State in which the product is to be made available on the market; and

(h) make good any deficiency which was the responsibility of the manufacturer or importer. 

(i) ensure that, while a product is the distributor’s responsibility, its storage or transport conditions do not jeopardise its conformity with the essential requirements.

(j) carry out sample testing, investigate complaints that a product is not in conformity, and keep a register of complaints, nonconforming products, and any recalled products. 

(k) where it places a product on the market under its own name/trademark or modifies a product already placed on the market, ensuring they comply with the manufacturer requirements for that product

(l) Where the product presents a risk, the distributor must immediately inform the manufacturer or distributor, the market surveillance authority and the competent national authorities of any other Member State in which the distributor has made the product available on the market of the risk, giving details of the reason or reasons why the product is not considered to be in conformity and any corrective measures taken.

Where does it apply? 

England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland

Who enforces the regulation? 

Local Authority (Trading Standards). 

Investigatory powers

Most of the usual powers you would expect. See Schedule 13. 

What are the sanctions available? 

For offences under Regulation 73, any person is liable on summary conviction of up to 3 months imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 or both. 

Available defences

It is a defence for a person to show that they took all reasonable steps and exercised due diligence to avoid committing the offence (Regulation 75). 

Liability of the body corporate

Where the commission by one person (“X”) of an offence under these Regulations is due to anything which another person (“Y”) did or failed to do in the course of business, Y is guilty of an offence and may be proceeded against and punished, whether or not proceedings are taken against X (Regulation 76). 

Where a body corporate commits an offence, a relevant person is also guilty of the offence where the body corporate’s offence was committed: 

(a) with the consent or connivance of the relevant person; or

(b) as a result of the negligence of the relevant person.

What is the special limitation period? 

No proceedings may be brought more than 3 years after the commission of the offence (Regulation 82(4)). 

Appropriate court to appeal a notice

The court in which proceedings have been brought or, in the alternative, the Magistrates or Sheriffs Court as appropriate. 

References 

British Marine Federation, RYA, and PWP. (2017). Managing personal watercraft. A guide for local and harbour authorities. Available at: http://pwp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MPW_Jan08.pdf accessed 24th August 2021. 

OPSS. (2017). Recreational Craft Regulations 2017. Guidance. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recreational-craft-regulations-2017 accessed 24th August 2021. 

PAS 7100:2018. Code of Practice on consumer product safety-related recalls and other corrective actions. Part 1 Business and Part 2 Regulators. Available at: https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/pas7100-supporting-better-product-recalls/ accessed 24th August 2021. 

The Recreational Craft Regulations 2017

More detailed guidance on all of the above can be found in the CC Guide, RSG Guidelines and the ICOMIA/EBI Guides

Citation: Jacklin, D. 2021. A guide. The Recreational Craft Regulations 2017. Water Incident Research Hub, 24 August.