This article was printed in my local car club's website, the contributor is a well respected and knowledgeable member of the club, is active in numerous motoring organisations and has worked in industry as a health and safety professional for a very long time.
Asbestos
Heritage vehicle exemption certificates
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the task of implementing the European REACH Directive into effect. Amongst these regulations are requirements concerning Asbestos which affect veteran, vintage and potentially classic cars.
In short the Directive could affect the sale of any vehicle containing asbestos no matter how small the amount. For older vehicles, produced up to 1990 this could include brake linings, pads, clutch plates, gaskets and insulation (including asbestos wrapped wiring looms).
To overcome some of these issues and to allow the continued use and sale of older cars a Certificate of Exemption was issued in December 2015 allowing the sale of vehicles potentially containing asbestos provided certain requirements were met.
Below is the HSE advice regarding this Certificate.
Does this exemption include parts for heritage vehicles, which contain asbestos?
No this exemption does not include parts for heritage vehicles – the ‘placing on the market ‘of vehicle parts containing asbestos is strictly prohibited.
Does this exemption certificate cover the ‘placing on the market’ of heritage trailers or semi-trailers?
This exemption certificate does NOT cover the ‘placing on the market’ of trailers which contain asbestos; however, a heritage vehicle and its accompanying semi-trailer can be placed on the market together, provided the exemption conditions are met in respect of both units (the semi-trailer is also over 30 years old etc.)
What qualifies as a heritage vehicle?
A heritage vehicle, means a vehicle manufactured at least thirty years before the date it is placed on the market.
What parts of a heritage vehicle are likely to contain asbestos?
There are a number of parts where asbestos might be found in a heritage vehicle. Brake shoes, clutch plates, gaskets, and clutch linings are the most common, but there may be other parts.
Could the asbestos parts be changed for non-asbestos parts before the heritage vehicle is placed on the market?
If the parts are reasonably accessible such as brake shoes, then these can be changed, but this must be done by a competent person with adequate controls in place to prevent the spread of asbestos.
Does this exemption certificate cover vehicle hire, such as wedding cars, where the owner/driver remains in charge?
The REACH prohibition does not apply in these circumstances as this activity is considered to be ‘continued use’ rather than ‘placing on the market’, therefore no exemption is required.
Does the definition of vehicles include vehicles such as tractors, fire engines and preserved fighting vehicles, as these are not actually intended to carry goods or passengers?
Yes, the definition will cover all vehicles such as tractors, fire engines, fighting vehicles etc. as they all involve transport of people/goods in some way, even it if that was not their primary function (e.g. a fire engine was used to transport fire fighters to the scene of a fire).
Does the definition cover motorbikes?
Yes, it does cover motorbikes.
Condition 3b requires a record of the articles, location and type of asbestos in the vehicle. What if there is uncertainty to which parts of the vehicle contains asbestos? Are we expected to dismantle the vehicle to find out?
No. Condition 3b gives a requirement to provide this information ‘as far as is reasonably practicable’. Dismantling the vehicle to check for asbestos would not be reasonably practicable and we would very much advise against this.
To comply an owner must before selling, leasing or loaning the vehicle prepare a written record as set out in b) below
The full Certificate is set out below
