Guidance

MIN 538 Amendment 7 (M) Codes of Practice – Authorisation of Certifying Authorities

Published 1 January 2025

Notice to all Owners, Operators and Skippers of Small Vessels in Commercial Use and Certifying Authorities of this type of Vessel.     

This notice should be read with the Small Commercial Vessel Codes, Police Boat Codes and MGN 280 (M) and replaces MIN 538 Amendment 6 (M).

1. Summary

1.1       The purpose of this MIN is to provide contact details of MCA authorised Certifying Authorities.

2. Introduction/background

2.1       Certifying Authorities undertake survey and certification work under the Small Commercial Vessel Codes of Practice or MGN 280 (M)[2] . The Codes of Practice are as follows:

• The Safety of Small Commercial Sailing Vessels – A Code of Practice (Blue Code) $EndLegislativeList
• The Safety of Small Commercial Motor Vessels – A Code of Practice (Yellow Code)
• The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure operating from a Nominated Departure Point (NDP) (Red Code)
• The Police Boat Common Code (PBC3) + Codes A, B, C, D^{[footnote 1]}
• MGN 280 (M) - Small Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure, Workboats and Pilot Boats – Alternative Construction Standards (available as an alternative standard to the Small Commercial Vessel Codes of Practice) ^{[footnote 2]}

2.2       The Workboat Code Edition 3 The Safety of Small Workboats and Pilot Boats – A Code of Practice

2.3       For existing vessels, transitional arrangements are set out in Workboat Code Edition 3.

3. Responsibilities

3.1       Certifying Authorities are authorised by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to examine and certificate small commercial vessels in accordance with the applicable requirements.

3.2       A Certifying Authority is responsible for each certificate it issues, and the relationship between the Certifying Authority and a vessel owner / managing agent is direct. This does not supersede the Code requirement that an owner is responsible for ensuring that their vessel complies with the requirements applicable to that vessel.

3.3       It is the responsibility of the owner / managing agent to ensure that a vessel is properly maintained, examined and manned in accordance with the relevant Code.

3.4       The Certifying Authorities listed under section 4 are authorised as Inspectors of Marks for the purpose of verifying Carving & Marking Notes on UK ships of less than 24 metres in length.

3.5       The Certifying Authorities are also authorised to undertake inspections in accordance with the Maritime Labour Convention on Coded vessels of less than 24 metres in length. However, Certifying Authorities may only undertake an MLC inspection on Small Commercial Vessels for which they currently provide survey and certifications services.   

A list of Certifying Authorities can be found in Annex 1.

4. Applications to act as a Certifying Authority

4.1       Organisations wishing to act as a Certifying Authority should make a formal request in writing to the address at the bottom of this notice. Upon receiving a request, the criteria for acting as a Certifying Authority will be provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

4.2       With any new applications, MCA are required to assess whether the additional audit burden through further appointments or delegations would be in the public interest as required under Treasury rules.  The MCA reserves the right to decline applications not meeting the above criteria. This is in accordance with the principles of the HM Treasury paper ‘Managing Public Money’.

More information

Maritime Governance, Improvement and Assurance
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Bay 3/07
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG

Email: ExternalMonitoring@mcga.gov.uk

Website: www.gov.uk/mca

Please note that all addresses and telephone numbers are correct at time of publishing.

Published: January  2025

 

 

 

1.  The Police Codes are an “equivalent” code, but may ONLY be used for Police Craft ↩

2. From 13 December 2023, the Alternative Construction Standards published in the Annex to MGN 280(M) may only be used for vessels operating for sport or pleasure. ↩