Tip n Lift are proud to be the country’s first body builder in the recovery industry to achieve European Whole Vehicle Type Approval.
When we first realized we had to achieve Type Approval to enable us to continue trading as a body
builder, we took the proactive view that such legislation should be embraced in order to improve the
efficiency of our business and the quality of our products.
Our directors decided that it was in our best interests to achieve Type Approval as early as possible
from both a competitive and economic point of view.
Having looked at the complexity of the task we sought help from a number of Organisations who had
prepared workshops and training materials to assist body builders such as ourselves.
We found much of this material to be not only confusing but, as we subsequently found out, inaccurate
as well!
We concluded that the task was too big to deal with in-house so we employed the services of a Conformity
of Production and Quality System expert to assist us.
He quickly unraveled the requirements of Type Approval and, working closely with our Service Director
and workforce, helped us to pass our COP audit within 3 months of starting the process.
He developed an easy to maintain Quality System and simplified the Conformity of Production requirements,
making it very easy to understand and operate.
Having also passed the technical inspections and testing required we thought Type Approval was complete.
How wrong we were. That turned out to be the easy part!
What followed in terms of paperwork, drawings, calculations etc. was completely unexpected and certainly
none of the training courses we looked at could have prepared us for what was to come. Thankfully though
our consultant guided us through the maze and over the hurdles and we were awarded our Whole Vehicle
Type Approval certificate on February 12th 2010.
Our Advice
- Start now! Type approval will become more difficult as time goes on. The goalposts are continually moving and the hurdles are getting higher. Costs are also increasing.
- Employ an expert. This was the best move we made. We calculated that it was far cheaper, quicker and more effective than doing it ourselves.
- Allow plenty of time. Completing all the documentation after COP and testing is done takes longer than getting COP.
- Be prepared to be frustrated. Guidance and instruction on what to do and where to go after COP is virtually non existent.
- Make sure you have someone who can interpret complex documents accurately. Trawling through European legal jargon is time consuming and can be difficult to understand.