1. Overview

All vehicles need to be approved to make sure they meet certain safety and environmental standards.

Normally, the manufacturer or importer will take care of this.

However, your vehicle might not have approval, and you might need to apply for it. Examples of when this might happen include if you’ve:

There are different ways you can get approval for a single or small number of vehicles:

Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) - if you’re making or importing a single vehicle or a very small number of vehicles
Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) - if you’re making or importing a single special purpose goods vehicle of 3,500kgs or less
Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA) - if you’re making or importing a single 2, 3 or smaller 4-wheeled vehicle
Mutual Recognition scheme - if you’re importing a vehicle that’s been approved and registered in the European Union

Type approval

This is to get approval for a type of vehicle instead of having each individual vehicle approved.

European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) – used by manufacturers or importers of large numbers of vehicles or those selling in Europe
European Small Series Type Approval (ESSTA) – used by manufacturers or importers of very low numbers of specific cars
National Small Series Type Approval (NSSTA) scheme - used by manufacturers or importers of modest numbers of vehicles

Contact the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) if you need help or information about:

VOSA
enquiries@vosa.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 123 9000

Contact the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) if you need help or information about:

VCA
enquiries@vca.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 330 5797

Find out about call charges.