Vehicle%20Certification%20in%20Australia

1
Vehicle Certification in Australia

• Peter Robertson
• Assistant Secretary
• Vehicle Safety Standards
• (Administrator of Vehicle Standards)

2
Vehicle Safety Standards (VSS)

• A branch within the Commonwealth Department of
  Transport and Regional Services
• Administers the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989
• 56 Staff

3
VSS Top Structure
4
Motor Vehicle Standards Act

• Uniform National Vehicle Standards which aim to
• make road vehicles safe to use
• control emissions from road vehicles
• secure road vehicles from theft.

5
Australia

• A federation of six states and two territories
• Commonwealth Government created in 1901
• Certain powers vested in the Commonwealth
  remainder in states

6
(No Transcript)
7
Jurisdictional Responsibilities

• Commonwealth - to point of first supply to the
  market
• States and Territories - in-service regulation
  (vehicle registration, licensing, roadworthiness
  etc)

8
Australia

• Small Population
• 19 million

9
Population Comparison
10
Australia

• But large land mass..

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
ADRs - The Australian Design Rules

• The national standards set under the Act, against
  which road vehicles, trailers and components are
  assessed
• Progressively being reviewed
• Policy intention to harmonise with ECE
  Regulations where possible

15
New and Amended ADRs

• Justification via Regulation Impact statement
• State and Territory agreement (two thirds
  majority)
• This process is necessary before an ECE
  Regulation can be applied in Australian law

16
Supply to the Market

• Requires an authority from the minister
  (Administrator of Vehicle Standards)
• The authority is referred to as a Compliance
  Plate Approval

17
Certification Streams

• Full volume - generally import or manufacture
  more than 100 vehicles per year.
• Low Volume (Specialist and Enthusiast vehicle
  Scheme) up to 100 vehicles per annum per
  vehicle category
• Ultra Low Volume

18
Full Volume

• Supply in unlimited numbers
• Must meet all relevant ADRs
• Full evidence
• Standard Vehicles

19
Certification in Australia

• Type Approval System
• Manufacturers arrange own testing
• Evidence submitted in summary form electronically
  to VSS
• Verification through conformity of production
  audit and test facility inspection

20
Certification in Australia
21
Test Results

• The vehicle manufacturer sends a summary of the
  the test results to VSS using a standard form,
  called a Summary of Evidence (SE) form
• There is one SE form for each ADR
• For some ADRs there is also a Selection from
  Fleet (SF) form which indicates which variant of
  a vehicle should be tested (worst case)

22
Electronic Processing

• Electronic forms using a package called Informed
  Filler is used
• Electronic forms allow VSS to collect the tests
  results electronically and enter the information
  directly into a database
• They also provide VSS and the manufacturer an
  indication of errors on the form

23
Submitting Forms

• The manufacturer arranges for testing to the
  appropriate ADRs and fills in the SE forms
• When they are ready, the manufacturer attaches
  (electronically) the forms to a special form
  called a Routing Slip
• The Routing Slip has a submit option which sends
  the forms to VSS via HTTP over the Internet

24
Receiving Forms

• When received there is an automatic check of the
  manufacturer, the vehicle etc before the form is
  accepted
• The forms are then unpacked from the Routing Slip
  and their details recorded in the database
• If the form has any errors on it VSS marks the
  form for manual checking

25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
Processing Forms

• Any errors found on the form either manually or
  automatically, are reported back to the
  manufacturer by a Discussion Item
• Discussion Items are automatically listed in a
  secure part of the Web site so that the
  manufacturer can see what errors have been found
  with their forms and follow the progress of the
  approval

28
Generating an Approval

• When all the errors have been resolved, and the
  application has tests results for all appropriate
  ADRs a Compliance Plate Approval can be generated
• The approval is printed and signed, but a
  notification is automatically sent to the
  manufacturer electronically

29
Rapid Response

• If all the forms submitted are correct a new
  application from initial receipt to signed
  approval can be processed in less than half a day
• Service standard is to complete process within 32
  days from the last receipt of acceptable evidence
• About 1500 approvals are issued each year using 7
  staff

30
Productivity benefit

• RVCS computer system has reduced the
  certification service standard from 90 to 32
  working days
• The average response time is 24 calendar days
• The response time for the major category,
  passenger vehicles, has been around 6 calendar
  days

31
After the Approval

• Once the Compliance Plate Approval is issued the
  manufacturer can supply vehicles to the market
• Manufacturers are also required to provide a Road
  Vehicle Descriptor (RVD) which describes the
  vehicle and the various options/variants,
  including photographs
• RVDs are publicly available on the Web site

32
Audit

• Because the vehicle testing is not conducted by
  VSS, there is an audit program to inspect the
  test facilities used by the manufacturers
• Manufacturers production and design facilities
  are also audited

33
Test Facility Inspection

• 18-24 month intervals
• ISO Guide 25 as basis

34
Conformity of Production Audit

• Audit of production process
• Ensure ADR compliance
• 18-24 month intervals
• ISO 9000 series as a guide

35

• Discussion